


You're Not a Monster to Me

by mrs_ricky_horror



Category: Loki laufeyson - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Chapter 27 starts the bucky x reader aspect (its still the same story/characters a diff relationship, F/M, bc loki is a dick- later there will be more loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 52,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21933898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_ricky_horror/pseuds/mrs_ricky_horror
Summary: (Y/n) Hart is not your normal New York citizen; she is anything but ordinary. She has abilities, or as her, self proclaimed, Best Friend, Tony Stark, would say; “Super powers.” She just wanted to stay in hiding, doing random acts of justice, but when she gets an urgent call from Tony saying that someone wants to meet her, she stupidly agrees to a meeting.She gets asked to assist a group of ‘Heroes’ in taking down the Norse God of mischief and lies; who has an attitude and a plan for destruction. But will she help them? What will happen if she says ‘no’? New York will, most likely, get conquered by Loki with out her skills. What will happen when she meets the Frost Giant behind it all? Will she see his side of things and realize that he’s right and Fury is wrong?Wanna find out?Well then… ALLONSY!(From my Wattpad)
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader, Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Kudos: 13





	1. The Call

6:00 AM

She turned in her bed pulling the pillow over her head trying to block out the sound of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath.  
"Jesus fucking Christ! All I ask for is sleep and I never get it." She growled turning and grabbing her phone off the nightstand. "This better be good Stark." She hissed.  
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry for interrupting your beauty sleep; not that you need it, you're already beautiful to me." The slightly sarcastic voice said.  
"Flattering isn't going to stop me from kicking your ass later. Now what do you need, Tony?"  
"Well, Ms. Grumpy, I have someone who would like to meet you." Tony chuckled. She sat up in her bed yanking the covers away.  
"Tony, I don't like people, you know that." She sighed, walking into the bathroom, stopping to stare at her reflection. One that she grew to hate.  
"I know, but I'm going to be here the whole time, and you don't have to do that much talking. You just need to, you know- be there. Show what you can do; then if you don't want to help you can leave."  
"Ugh. Fine." she grunted running a hand through her (h/c) hair. "You owe me."  
"Thanks, so I'll come to you, then take you to meet him. And if this goes well I have a bottle of Jack Daniels with your name on it." Tony said, she could picture the smile on his face.  
"Yeah yeah. Now I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep!"  
"Sorry... Try to catch a little more z's, I'll be there around eleven-ish. Still got the key on top of the door frame right?"  
"Yeah."  
"I'll let myself in, wake you up, let you get ready, then we can go."  
"Okay." She said trying not to yawn. "See you later."  
"Yep. See you later. Love you."  
"Tony, don't. Just. Don't." she giggled.  
"Sorry, (Y/n). It's a habit, I only call Pepper this early."  
"Yeah. Whatever. Goodbye, Tony." she said hanging up the phone, falling back onto the bed. Trying to get sleep but it did not come. Two weeks without sleep.. What's one more day right?


	2. The Meeting

Tony came and got her as promised, but wouldn't tell her anything. Except:  
"Turns out you're not going to be able to leave, you'll have to stay even if you don't want to help."  
"Which means that I'll end up giving in and helping. You know me Tony,"  
"If you stay and there's trouble you'll feel obligated to help. I promise that I didn't know that you wouldn't be able to leave." He said looking at her over his sunglasses. She chuckled slightly.  
"Yeah, okay." she said, playing with the buttons on her shirt, then fixing her sunglasses. "Can you tell me what this is about at least? I'd like to know what I'm getting into."  
The 'genius' billionaire, playboy, philanthropist pondered for a moment, thinking of what to say.  
"I think it's best if I let him explain..." was all he said as they continued to drive in silence to a destination she knew nothing about.  
"Tony, why are you covering my eyes?" she asked holding onto his wrists. The man chuckled.  
"Because, this is a secret." Tony said casually.  
"It better not be a plane of some sort. It's not is it?" Tony was silent. "Tony, it's not right? Tony it better not be a fucking plane!"  
"Shh... It's gonna be okay, (Y/n)." he reassured her. She didn't say anything, she continued to let Tony guide her.  
After about ten more minutes of walking Tony finally removed his hands. (Y/n) groaned as her eyes adjusted to the light.  
"Ms. Hart, it's nice to finally meet you." a man said.  
"The pleasure's all mine." She said as her eyes finally adjusted, she looked to the man and noticed his attire. A man, in all black with a gun strapped to his leg and an eye patch.  
The leader, I presume. She thought, shaking his hand.  
"Director Nick Fury."  
"(Y/n) Hart. Uh, if you don't mind me asking, why couldn't we do this in a more suitable location?" she questioned picking at her nails.  
"You mean you don't like my Helicarrier?" Fury asked with a chuckle. (Y/n) shrugged.  
"I'm not overly fond of flying, Sir." she said looking him in his... eye.  
"Just relax, everything is going to be fine. I'm sure Mr. Stark here would hurt me if anything happened to his best friend."  
"You got that right." Tony said with a smile.  
"So, Ms. Hart-"  
"Please, Director, call me (Y/n)." she said with a shy smile.  
"(Y/n), Tony tells me you have abilities. Is this true?" She turned to Tony and gave him a death glare, then turned back to the director.  
"Yes, it is."  
"And what are they?"  
She didn't talk for a few moments.  
"I can change into anyone else in the world; that I've seen; whether it be by a picture or video, if I have seen them, I can turn into them I can read minds; again, even if they are from pictures, I can read what they were thinking at that exact moment. Also, I have super strength. Those are my abilities. I'm also very skilled with a gun and various types swords/knives, and hand to hand combat." she grinned. Tony chuckled.  
"A notable mention is that her eyes are always different depending on her mood. Just in case you wonder how she's feeling at any given moment." Tony said matter-o-factly.  
Director Fury nodded. "Well, would you like to show me? It's just so I can see If you are right for the job."  
She nodded her head understanding why. I mean, who knows what they're dealing with? Except Fury of course.  
“Who would you like me to turn into, Sir?”  
Tony looked at his friend then to the director. Fury smiled.  
“I don’t know, surprise me.” (Y/n) chuckled at his attitude then looked at Tony and winked.  
Her body began to morph, she grew about eight inches, to be the height of 5’9”, her hair changed from shoulder length auburn to long strawberry blonde. She turned into Pepper Potts!  
“(Y/n)! I thought I told you no turning into Pepper!” Tony yelled. She turned and looked at him.  
“You said that you ‘didn’t like it,’ you never said not to do it. Those are two different sentences, Tony, darling.” she said, her voice was even like Peppers.  
“Stop it, (Y/n)!” Tony whined. She smiled and walked over to him. “Please, for me?”  
She hugged him.  
“I’m sorry Tony, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” she said as he wrapped his arms around her.  
“It wasn’t making me uncomfortable, per say, it was just getting really hard to fight the urge to kiss you. I-I mean Pepper! I mean you pretending to be Pepper, so yeah I’d technically be kissing you; not that there’s anything wrong with kissing you, I mean that, it’s just I’m with Pepper, ya know?”  
While Tony was rambling, (Y/n) decide that she was going to change again, but not change back. She decided that she was going to change into him. She was going to turn into Tony Stark.  
She could be useful, with her powers she could get into Loki’s mind. She might be able to stop him. Fury thought as he watched Tony, the real Tony, freak out because he’s hugging himself.  
"Ms. Hart, how would you like to join the Avengers?" he asked when she turned back into her 5'1", auburn haired self. She looked at Fury with her eyebrows raised.  
"You want me to join your team? May I ask what we will be doing exactly? I do not want to put my life on the line until I know what I'm up against, Sir."  
“Of course. We’re up against the Trickster God, Loki, he plans to take over New York. Now, you would be a great help to the team, with your powers you might be able to get him to stop?”  
Loki? As in Norse God, Loki? God of Mischief and Lies, Loki? She thought, definitely not thinking she could do the job.  
"With all do respect Director, I don't think that I'm right for this. I mean, I can't help you. I'm sorry."  
Director Fury and Tony stared at her. Then Fury nodded. "Very well. I'm sure Stark informed you that you won't be able to leave until the mission is done. And as you can see," he said motioning towards the window. "We've already taken off. Enjoy the flight Ms. Hart." he began walking to the door. She squinted her eyes a little at the Director. "Oh, and if you change your mind, Tony knows where to find me." he said with a smile. Tony chuckled. "Have a good evening, Ms. Hart." Fury said as he walked out the door. (Y/n) and Tony stared at his back until the door closed.  
"Why does it have to be a plane?!" she grimaced. Tony laughed wrapping an arm around her shoulders.


	3. Loki and Thor?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter doesn't have the reader in it, so skip it if you wish, or give it a read to relive Tony's sass

Coulson and Steve stood watching over the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they were trying to locate Loki and the Tesseract

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble." Coulson said looking at Steve. The soldier looked at him then back to the working agents.

"No, no. It's fine." he said looking a tad uncomfortable.

"They're a vintage set. It took me a couple years to collect them all." the agent said, basking in the glory of his idol, Steve stood there, his arms crossed, but said nothing. "Near mint. Slight foxing around the edges, but-" he was cut off by an agent.

"We got a hit. A 67% match." he looked back at his computer. "Wait. Crossmatch, 79%." 

Coulson walked over to him. "Location?"

The agent tapped on his keyboard a little. "Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königtrasse." he said. "He's not exactly hiding." he muttered as pictures of Loki appeared on the screen. Steve looked at the pictures.

"Captain," Fury said, Steve turned to look at the commander. "You're up." The star spangled man with a plan nodded, took a deep breath and walked to "suit up."

···············

Scared citizens began flooding out of the formal gathering, terrified by what had just happened. Loki walked out in triumph as they had gotten what they needed. He walked the streets in full armor. His golden helmet and scepter shining in the lights illuminating the streets. 

Sirens could be heard in the distance as well as police cars rounding the corner to stop him. However, Loki was stronger, and he could use forces that they couldn't believe were possible. Using his scepter he shot at the police car hitting it in the front to stop it, resulting in it sliding and falling so its top was to the pavement and wheels were in the air.

He didn't even watch to see it happen, once he knew it was hit, he continued his walk. The citizens were still running the streets in panic and fear.

"Kneel before me." Loki said appearing in front of a large group, which ran away from him, or at least they tried too, but they couldn't escape him, he kept appearing everywhere. "I said..." Loki calmly said, he then slammed his scepter down on the ground to quiet them. " **KNEEL**!" he yelled. This time, they actually complied. They knelt, causing the god to smirk and open his arms. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" he asked, lowering his arms and his scepter, walking in front of the crowd as if he was giving a lecture in a lecture hall. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity," he began weaving his way through the crowd, loving the fact that they were listening to him, and, of course, kneeling to him as they should. "...that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity." he paused his walking. "You were made to be ruled. In the end," he walked forward again. "you will always kneel." he said with a smile.

Just then an elderly man stood up, obviously not liking anything that Loki was saying. "Not to men like you." he said looking the god in the eyes. Loki just smiled wider.

"There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you." the man said still not afraid of him.

Loki raised his chin high, as well as his scepter. "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." he said pointing his scepter right at the man, the blue light radiating from the head glowing brighter. He then shot at the man, who did not move, did not flinch, but didn't get hit.

Steve couldn't sit back and watch this anymore; so he had to take action, he got in front of the citizen, and put up his shield, deflecting Loki's magic back to him, and successfully hitting him, knocking him down to his knees. Loki looked up to see what happened.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany," Steve said walking over to the villain. "And saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Loki knelt, starring Steve in the eye.

"The soldier." He sneered using his scepter to help himself to his feet. "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve replied, smirking slightly. The S.H.I.E.L.D jet hovered a safe, yet close, distance away from Steve, the citizens, and Loki; and was armed and ready to fire.

" _Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."_ Romanoff's voice rang through the PA. Loki looked at the jet and fired a shot at it, but it moved quickly.

Steve then threw his shield at him, but Loki deflected it; so Steve punched him in the face. Now, Loki is a god, so I don't see what Steve punching him is gonna do, even if he has super strength, he's hitting a fucking god who has probably fought other gods. (Yeah, im looking at you Thor.) Loki looked at him for a moment, then swung his scepter at him, and Steve dodged it with his shield, but Loki countered it and hit his shield again, making an opening to hit him in the stomach, which he took, and Steve went flying.

Anyone else would've been down, but not Steve Rogers, he got up and looked at the god, anger etched onto his visible features -basically just his mouth- and whipped his shield at him, full force. Loki just hit it away with his scepter like it was nothing. Leaving Steve weaponless. Loki walked towards him, prepared to win the fight but Steve charged at him and began to throw punches, left and right; whilst Loki dodged them he also tried to hit Steve with his scepter, but the soldier was dodging his hits as well. Loki and Steve fought like this for what seemed like a while, but it wasn't. Alas Loki ended up hitting Steve right in the back and making him fly, it kinda resembled baseball.

Steve was able to get to his knees but couldn't get up because Loki put his scepter against his head, ready to use it.

"Kneel." he hissed. Steve grabbed his wrist.

"Not today!" he said as he kicked Loki in his chest. Romanoff watched from above, anyone can tell that she was avoiding taking action so she didn't ruin the town. Loki grabbed Steve and threw him. Romanoff watched as the once great hero was now getting his ass handed to him by a god in leather and a cape.

" _Agent Romanoff, you miss me?_ " a voice said, just then the jets PA system started to play AC/DC, causing Steve and Loki to look at it confused. Loki looked up as a blast hit him sending him into the stairs and caused him to let go of his scepter.

The music ended as a red and gold suit of titanium and gold alloy landed, aiming weapons at Loki.

" _Make your movie, Reindeer Games._ " Tony said, Loki put his hands up as his armor started to disappear, showing he surrendered, considering that he did not have his scepter. "Good move." the man in the suit said as he put his blasters away.

"Mr. Stark." Steve said, out of breath.

" _Captain_." Tony replied.

···············

The jet was flying high and steady, Loki was on the ship and wasn't causing any harm.

" _Is he saying anything?_ " Fury asked on the radio, Romanoff continued to state out the windshield of the jet.

"Not a word."

" _Just get him here, we're low on time._ " Fury said. Everyone could sense the anger and impatience in his voice.

Steve stood by Tony looking at Loki.

"I don't like it." the blonde said tuning his back.

"What, 'Rock of Ages' giving up so easily?" Tony asked, probably ignoring the fact that Steve doesn't understand that reference. Steve turned towards Tony a little.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop." he finished turning to look at Loki over his shoulder.

"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow." Tony stated looking at him. "What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?" Steve asked, utterly confused.

"It's like Calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle." Tony joked.

Steve looked at him with a straight face, that kinda screamed "I will kill you."

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yeah, there's a lot of things fury doesn't tell you." Tony said with a sassy look on his face.

The peaceful flight was ruined by a thunderstorm.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked looking around. Loki looked up to the roof, Tony and Steve looked around. Steve looked at Loki.

"What's the matter? Are you scared of a little lightning?" he joked, but had a serious face. Loki looked at him.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." he said as he looked back up to the roof. Steve continued to look at him, while Tony looked to Steve, confusion all over his face.

The storm continued to get worse, then something hit the top of the jet, causing everyone to jump. Even Romanoff. The jet started to rock like crazy, Tony grabbed his mask and put it on, he walked to the rear hatch and opened it.

"What are you doing?" Steve called when Tony finished putting on his helmet. Before Tony could answer, a blonde beefcake with a red cape and a hammer landed on the door. And he began to storm his way up to Tony, who raised his arm ready to blast him, but the blonde took his hammer and hit Tony in the chest, sending him flying into Rogers. The blonde turned to Loki, grabbed him by the throat, out of his seat mind you- he literally ripped him from his seat. And stormed to the hatch and flew off.

Tony groaned as he stood up. "And now there's that guy." he muttered walking to the hatch.

"Another Asgardian?" Romanoff asked from the cockpit. As Steve got to his feet and turned to Stark.

"That guy's a friendly?" he asked Stark.

" _Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost_." replied Tony.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve yelled as Tony continued to walk to the hatch.

" _I have a plan_." he said finally reaching his destination. " _Attack_." he said then flew out of the jet, leaving Steve with Romanoff and the other pilot. Steve rolled his eyes and ran to the parachutes, grabbing one and put it on. Romanoff looked over her shoulder at him.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap."

"I don't see how I can." he said latching the last buckle.

"These guys come from legend. They're basically gods." Romanoff said fiddling with some switches and buttons above her head.

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve said as he finished tightening the parachute. He grabbed his shield, ran and jumped off the hatch.

~Timeskip brought to you by Thor's, glorious, helmet that he neglects to wear in the MCU~

Tony slammed The blonde Asgardian down to the ground in a forest. The god got up and prepared himself for a fight. Tony raised his mask.

"Do not touch me again." the god said staring at the man in a red and gold titanium suit.

"Then don't take my stuff." Tony replied staring back at the blonde.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with."

"Uh..." Tony said turning and looking around. "Shakespeare in the park? Doth Mother know you wear-eth her drapes?"

"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice." he said unamused.

"He gives up the Cube he's all yours, until then... Stay out of our way." Tony said as his mask came back down over his face. " _Tourist_." he muttered. The Asgardian turned whipped his arm back and threw his hammer hitting Tony in the chest and sending him through a couple trees.

" _Okay_..." Tony muttered. The blonde held out his arm once again and the hammer flew into it.

Meanwhile, Loki spectated from above, a smile etched onto his face.

Tony slowly got up to his feet. The blonde began to swing the hammer in a circular motion, gaining momentum. Tony blasted him into a tree, then he used his rockets to fly over to him and kick him in the chest through the tree. He landed on the ground his hammer away from him, the blonde then summoned it to him once again- only this time, he decided to also use lightning, he raised the hammer into the air and lightning began to strike it. He pointed the hammer at Stark and fired the lightning. Tony tried to block it, but it was no use.

" _ **Power at 400% capacity**_." J.A.R.V.I.S. said. Tony smirked slightly.

"How about that?" he muttered, then he blasted the Asgardian with full power, sending him backwards, he however landed on his feet. The Asgardian flew at Tony, who flew back at him, they were flying through the air hitting each other. Then came crashing to the ground again. The God did not have his hammer, so he punched Tony in the face, Tony went to punch him back but the God caught his arm. So Tony went to hit him with the other one but he caught that too, he began to squeeze the suit, bending the metal. Tony blasted by his head, startling the blonde, and then Tony headbutted him, but that did not phase the God, for he headbutted Tony; sending Tony crashing backwards. Steve couldn't take the two men acting like children any longer, he threw his shield toward them and yelled.

"That's enough." he jumped down from the broken tree he was standing on, so he was standing in front of them. "Now I don't know what you plan on doing here..." he said his attention on the caped god.

"I have come here to put an end to Loki's schemes."

"Then prove it. Put that hammer down." Steve said looking him in the eyes.

Tony looked at Steve, utterly shocked. "Um yeah, no. Bad call. He loves his hammer." 

The Asgardian smacked Tony with the hammer once more, but come on, who wouldn't have at that point?

"You want me to put the hammer down?" he yelled jumping up in the air, Steve watched him and put his shield up as the god brought his hammer down. Sending both of them to the ground. Steve stood up.

"Are we done here?"


	4. Fine, I'll Help You

(Y/n) stood with Dr. Banner, and watched as the guards led a cuffed Loki through the halls. A smile on his face as he passed the room they were in. She looked over at Bruce as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  
"Ya all right there, Bruce?" she asked eying him, he nodded. She didn't want him hulking out right now, she at least wanted to be farther away when he did. They made their way to the rest of the 'team,' and watched as Fury put Loki into a cell. A camera feeding video to them.  
" _It is an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me._ " Loki said with his arms wide. Fury looked at him.  
" _It's built for something a lot stronger than you._ "  
" _Oh, I've heard,_ " Loki said turning towards the camera. (Y/n) looked at Bruce, slightly. " _A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man_." Natasha looked up at Bruce, he looked at her then back down at the screen. " _How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?_ " Loki asked.  
" _How desperate am I?_ " Fury asked walking towards the cell. " _You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me desperate. You might not be glad that you did."_  
" _Ooh. It burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract to have power, unlimited power._ " Loki said with a smirk. "A _nd for what? A warm light for all mankind to share._ " he said looking at the camera, then he turned back to Fury. " _And then to be reminded what real power is_."  
Fury looked at him and smiled slightly then walked away. " _Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something._ " and with that he left the room. Loki walked to the side of the cell and looked at the camera, then it went black.  
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said with a smile.  
"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked looking at the god. (Y/n) looked up at him, waiting for an answer.  
"He has an army, called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor of any world known. He means to lead them against your people." he said walking up to the table, Maria walking up behind him. "They will win him the Earth, and in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." (Y/n) looked at him.  
"An army... from outer space." Steve said looking at her.  
"So he's building another portal." (Y/n) said looking at Bruce, he took off his glasses and looked at her.  
"That's what he needs Selvig for." Bruce stated.  
"Selvig?" Thor asked the doctor.  
"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce said looking at him.  
"He's a friend."  
"Loki has him under some kind of a spell, along with one of ours." Natasha said looking away from them.  
"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve said looking around at them.  
(Y/n) nodded. "You shouldn't focus on him." she said looking at Steve.  
"I agree, we shouldn't be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him." Bruce said looking at Steve. (Y/n) looked at Thor, her eyebrows raised.  
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother." Thor said looking at Banner.  
"He killed 80 people in _two_ days." Natasha said looking up at him. He looked at her.  
"He's adopted."  
"I think it's about the mechanics." Bruce said. "Iridium..."  
"What do they need the iridium for?" (Y/n) asked crossing her arms.  
"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony said walking in. (Y/n) rolled her eyes and sat down next to Steve.  
"It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony said walking over to Thor. "No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing." he said patting Thor on the arm.  
"It also means that the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as he wants it to." (Y/n) said watching as Tony walked up to where Fury usually stood.  
"Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails. _That_ man is playing Galaga." Tony yelled pointing at one of the workers. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." He covered his eye and looked around. "How does Fury even see these?"  
"He turns," Maria said watching him. He looked at the group.  
"Sounds exhausting." he said playing with one of the control panels. "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the cube."  
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked looking at Tony with her arms crossed.  
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Was I the only one who did the reading?"  
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked looking at the brunette. Banner paced in the background.  
"He would have to heat the cube to 120-million Kelvin..." he said turning to Steve. (Y/n) nodded, and pursed her lips. "That would just get him through the Coulomb barrier."   
"Unless Selvig learned how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." she said turning to him. He nodded.  
"Well to do that he would have to achieve heavy ion fusion at any rector on the planet." Bruce said as Tony walked up to him.  
"Finally, people who speak English." Tony said holding out his hand to Bruce, he shook it.  
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked. (Y/n) chuckled and Tony rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled.  
"It's good to meet you Dr. Banner. Your work on anti electron collisions is unparalleled." Tony said looking at Bruce with a smile.  
"And he is a big fan of how you lose control and turn into a huge green rage monster." (Y/n) said with a smirk. Bruce nodded and looked at him.  
"Thanks."  
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." Fury said walking in. "I was hoping that you could join him." he said looking at Tony.  
"Let's start with that stick of his." Steve said looking at him. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."  
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury said.  
Thor looked at him confused. "Monkeys? I do not understand."  
"I do! I understood that reference." Steve said with a smile. (Y/n) looked at him as she held in a laugh. He was so adorable, just being oblivious to everything. Tony rolled his eyes as Steve looked down at the table, embarrassed.  
"It's okay Steve," she said putting her hand on his shoulder.  
"What's your name, kid?" Natasha asked. (Y/n) looked at her reading her like a book, everything she had tried to hide was just out there in the open.  
"(Y/n) Hart." she said looking at everyone. She could read them all. Every memory, every thought, every feeling, every single thing.  
"Really, you don't have an alias?" Tony joked with a grin, (Y/n) glared at him.  
"I would but _Mystique_ was taken." she laughed.  
"Is everything a joke to you two?" Steve asked his eyebrows furrowed in anger. They both looked at him.  
"No, not everything..." (Y/n) smiled.  
"Only the funny things." Tony grinned.  
"Wow. You two are perfect for each other. However, do not let your love get in the way of our mission." Thor said with a slight attitude. (Y/n) looked at him, her eyes turning red with anger.  
Something stuck out in his memories, and it was a pretty recent memory...  
_**"I thought you dead." Thor said looking into Loki's eyes. Loki stared back at him.**_  
 _ **"Did you mourn?"**_  
 _ **"We all did. Our father..." Thor said his eyes shining in the moonlight. Loki stopped him.**_  
 _ **"Your father." he grimaced holding up a finger to silence the blonde holding him by his neck. Loki finally had enough of Thor manhandling him and shoved his arm off him. They stared at each other for awhile. Loki then broke his gaze and started to walk away.**_  
 _ **"He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" he said as he passed Thor. Thor turned and followed Loki.**_  
 _ **"We were raised together. We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" he asked Loki, Thor was obviously hurt that Loki would consider him anything less than a brother, but Loki, no one can really tell his feelings. Loki stopped walking and turned to Thor.**_  
 _ **"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I, who was, and should be, king!" Loki stated, he sounded hurt, and not physically hurt- even though Thor had slammed him onto the ground moments ago; but he sounded hurt emotionally, he was definitely betrayed.**_  
She didn't know why this stood out to her, it just did. But she pushed it aside and stopped looking through this foolish mind.  
"Listen here, Thor." she growled walking over to him, he was extremely tall compared to her so she made him look down at her. "Tony and I are _not_ , and will **_never_** , be in a relationship." she hissed.  
"I misunderstood, I am sorry." Thor apologized raising his hands in defense. She nodded her head to him.  
"It's alright. Just don't assume things okay?" she sighed. Thor nodded looking at Tony.  
"He has nothing important to say, trust me. Don't try to talk to him because it's all nonsense that you probably won't understand, Odinson." she said to Thor about Tony. Thor chuckled whilst Tony had a face full of 'hurt'.  
"C'mon (Y/n), you're gonna break your man's heart." Tony said walking over to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She looked at Tony her eyes still red with anger.  
"If you want to keep your arm I suggest you remove it right now." she said through gritted teeth.  
Natasha smirked. "I like her. She doesn't take any shit, and she doesn't whine about it. She can hold her own and we need that here." (Y/n) looked at her.  
"Oh, I'm not here to help. I'm just here because Director Fury wouldn't let me leave before we took off."  
Steve shifted in his seat to look at her. "Wait, (Y/n), you mean S.H.I.E.L.D kidnapped you?"  
"Yes. With the help of Mr. Stark here." she said, aggressively, slapping Tony on the back. Steve looked at Tony and shook his head. Giving his signature Steve Rogers eyebrows of disappointment.  
"Hey, she agreed to come here, Capsicle." Tony said raising his hands in defense. "She just... didn't agree to stay here... on the plane... because she's... scared of them."  
"Then why would you purposely bring her here if she doesn't like flying? It seems like you have a death wish." Thor chuckled looking at (Y/n) and Tony. (Y/n) looked up at Thor and nodded.  
"Well, I don't have a death wish, Point Break, I just want to push my best friend outside of her comfort zone so she can overcome her fears."  
Steve stood up and looked sternly at Tony.  
"Stark, that's not your decision. If she doesn't like flying she needs to do it on her own terms."  
"Thank you, Mr. Rogers. But please, don't speak for me again. I can handle myself." she said moving away from Tony.  
"Ms. Hart, I know that you said that you didn't think you were right for the job, but we need you now more than ever."  
"Look, I told you already, I cannot help you. Even if I wanted to I can't. I'm not good in these sort of situations." (Y/n) said shaking her head.  
"(Y/n), I know that you feel like you can't help." Bruce said walking over to her so he stood in front of her. "I know what you're feeling. But listen, you can do this, you have abilities that none of us have. I believe that you can do this. This is all you have to do, after this, you can just sit back and not do anything else. Okay?"   
She looked at Bruce, and nodded slightly. "Fine. But as soon as I get the information I'm _done_. I want nothing to do with this or any of you anymore!"


	5. The Doctor and The Billionaire

(Y/n) stood next to Bruce as he scanned the scepter. "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract." Bruce said looking at the screen. "It's gonna take weeks to process."  
"We bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster-" Tony began tapping on another shiscep  
(Y/n) walked over to him. "We could clock this at 600 teraflops."  
Tony looked at her. "Around 600..."  
Bruce chuckled and looked at the two. "All I packed was a toothbrush."  
"You should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it." Tony said looking at some of the technology.  
(Y/n) smiled at Bruce. "It's Candyland."  
Tony smiled and grabbed something off the counter.  
"Thanks, but last time I was in New York, I kinda broke Harlem."  
Tony looked at him. "I promise a stress free environment. No tension, no surprises." he said poking Bruce with a small metal rod that shocked him. (Y/n) shook her head at Tony as Bruce yelled out in pain. Tony leaned forward and looked at him closely.  
"Hey!" Steve yelled.  
"Nothing?" Tony asked Bruce, his eyes squinted in skepticism.  
"Are you nuts?" Steve asked walking into the lab, (Y/n) looked at him and nodded her head.  
"Jury's out." Tony said quickly looking at Steve then back to Bruce. "You really got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums?"  
"Huge bag of weed?" (Y/n) asked as her and Steve walked over to them. Bruce smiled.  
"Is everything a joke to you?"  
Tony rolled his eyes. "We already covered this. Funny things are."  
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." Steve said glaring at Tony. "No offense, Doc." he said looking at Bruce.  
He smiled. "I-it's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." he said looking at Tony.  
"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut."  
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve said with his jaw clenched. (Y/n) looked at them and walked to stand next to Bruce.  
"Do you think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before?" Tony asked walking back over to Bruce and (Y/n).  
"What is he not telling us?" (Y/n) asked quietly. Tony looked at her and nodded.  
"I can't do the equation without all the variables."  
Steve looked at the two his eyebrows drawn together. "You think Fury is hiding something?"  
"He's a spy. Captain. He is the spy." Tony said looking at him. "His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" he said putting a blueberry in his mouth.  
Bruce looked at the three. "Uh..." he shook his head and looked back at the scepter. "I just want to finish my work and-"  
"Doctor?" Steve asked looking at him.  
Bruce looked up at him then looked at Tony and (Y/n) and took off his glasses. "A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube..."  
"I heard it." Steve said impatiently.  
"Well, I think that was meant for you." Bruce said pointing at Tony. (Y/n) turned and looked at Tony who reached across her and held the bag of blueberries out to Bruce, who took some.  
"Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."  
"The Stark Tower?" Steve asked. "That big, ugly... building in New York?"  
"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source." (Y/n) said crossing her arms and looking at Steve.  
"The building will run itself for, what, a year?" Bruce asked.  
Tony looked at him. "It's just a prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at."  
"So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? W-what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce said looking at Tony.  
"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files." Tony said walking up to Steve.  
"I'm sorry. Did you say..."  
"J.A.R.V.I.S. has been running it since I hit the bridge." Tony said putting something in his back pocket. (Y/n) looked at Steve.  
"In a few hours he should know every secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide." she said laying her hands on the counter. Bruce looked at her then to Tony.  
"Blueberry?" Tony asked holding the bag out to Steve.  
"Yet you're confused as to why they didn't want you around."  
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."  
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused he'll succeed." Steve said looking at (Y/n) and Bruce. "We have orders. We should follow them."  
"Following is not really my style." Tony said putting some blueberries in his mouth.  
Steve looked at him. "And you're all about style, aren't you?"  
"Of the people in this room which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?" Tony said with a smirk.  
"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funny to you." (Y/n) said with an eyebrow raised. Steve looked at her, then back to Tony.  
"Just find the cube." he said walking out of the lab.  
"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Tony said shaking his head and tapping on a screen.  
"Huh. The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have a jump on us." Bruce said focusing on the screen in front of him.  
Tony looked at him and walked over to a screen next to him. "What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face. And I'm going to be there when it does."  
"And I will read all about it." Bruce said with a smile.  
"Uh huh. Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us." (Y/n) looked at Bruce a small smile on her face. She knew that both of them would probably end up having to fight with the team, but she also knew that Bruce had a bigger problem.  
"You see, I don't get a suit if armor, I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." Bruce said looking down.  
"I don't get a suit of armor either. If I get shot, I get shot and I could die." (Y/n) said looking at him. He looked at her and nodded.  
"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl it's way into my heart. This stops it." Tony said walking over and tapping his arc reactor. "This circle of light, it's part of me now, not just armor. It's a terrible privilege."  
Bruce looked at him skeptically. "But you can control it."  
"Because I learned how," Tony said looking at him.  
"It's different," Bruce said tapping on the screen. Tony cleared the screen.  
"Hey, we read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you." (Y/n) stated looking at Bruce.  
"So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... Saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"  
(Y/n) looked at them both, and shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."  
"You may not enjoy that..." Bruce muttered.  
(Y/n) smiled. "And you just might."


	6. Interrogation

"Look. You just have to try and get some kind of information out of him."  
"Like what? I can tell you his whole life story just by looking at him." (Y/n) snapped at Tony. "I don't really see what you want me to do. Can't Natasha do it? She's used to doing this, I'm not." Nat grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.  
"Listen, kid, you have abilities that we don't. And whatever you can't get I'll go in afterwards and see if I can get it. Please, you can do this."  
(Y/n) gave a small smile and nodded her head.  
"I'll try my best, but I cannot guarantee anything."  
"And we understand that. Just go in there and give it your all." Fury said with a nod. She looked at Tony who nodded his head, and she sighed. It was for the good of the world, she can go in there and get anything from him at all, it would be a start at least. Even just a tidbit of information was something she could handle.  
"Yeah, just go in there, see into his mind, maybe seduce him a bit, and then get out. Simple! Now go!" Tony said shoving her towards the door. She growled at him.  
"Hey, are you forgetting that you're the bottom in this relationship?" (Y/n) snapped again, making Tony laugh.  
Thor furrowed his brows and looked at Bruce. "I thought that they weren't a 'thing.'"  
Bruce chuckled. "They aren't."  
"I do not understand." Thor Said watching Tony get shoved by (Y/n). "Mortals are so confusing...."

  
***

  
She walked to the door and opened it stepping into the room to be met with the green eyes of the God himself, from behind glass of course.  
She looked at him, not fond of the way he was staring.  
"Look-" she began taking a step towards the glass prison.  
"You can't get anything from me, you pathetic mortal." he spat, glaring at her. She stared at him, already getting agitated by him.  
_I already regret this and it hasn't even been two minutes._ (Y/n) thought as she walked even closer to the glass. Now she was close enough to have a decent conversation rather than being so far away that it would be like she's afraid of him. Which she is not.  
"You can leave now. I won't say anything." he said putting his arms behind his back. He had a slight smirk on his face, showing that he was ultimately amused by her and her confidence.  
"I know, you have already said that, Loki. I'm just here in case you do say anything." she said taking a seat in front of his prison. She stared up at him trying desperately not to seem intimidated by the likes of him.  
As she looked at him, his thoughts began to flow into her head.  
_Why would they send this one in? She doesn't seem to have any abilities at all. I doubt she could hold her own in a fight, especially against me; but why her. What can she do that others can't? Barton didn't tell me anything about this one, well, to be fair I didn't really ask. I didn't know about her, so he probably didn't. Perhaps she is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret weapon, I mean they can't use Banner. So it must be her. What can she do? It has to be something... Maybe it has to do with those strange, yet beautiful, eyes._  
She chuckled slightly at his thought, and it did go unnoticed. She tilted her head a little to the side, and continued to stare at him, just like he was staring at her. Still trying to find her purpose. She saw her eyes in the reflection on the glass and noticed that they had changed colour, they weren't their 'normal' red anymore, they were a slight pink. A colour they hadn't been in a long time.  
She scanned his face, and his mind, then she saw something... Interesting.  
**_It was a younger version of Loki, not too young, he just had shorter hair. He was obviously shaken up by something. He was in a corridor type room, with things lining the wall, cases- filled with objects of apparent importance. He walked to the end of the corridor to a box type thing, she had no clue what it was, Loki grabbed the handles and started to turn blue._**  
 ** _"Stop!" Yelled Odin, the all Father._**  
 ** _Loki did not turn around. "Am I cursed?" he asked, still holding the cube, his back still turned to his father._**  
 ** _"No." Odin said._**  
 ** _Loki began to breathe heavy, as he set the object down on the podium it was on. "What am I?" he asked when he finally set it down._**  
 ** _Odin watched him. "You're my son."_**  
 ** _Loki turned to face him, his entire body blue and his eyes red. It slowly faded away showing Loki's pale skin as he glared at his father. "What more than that?" he began to walk up to Odin. "The casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?" he asked looking Odin in the eye as he walked closer to him._**  
She pushed out of his mind and looked at the Loki in front of her, he seemed different now. He didn't show it, but she could feel that he was uncertain... almost scared.  
 ** _"No. In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the temple and I found a baby. Small, for a giant's offspring. Abandoned, suffering, left to die. Laufey's son." Odin said looking down at Loki._**  
 ** _Loki looked away from him. "Laufey's son." he said in a hushed tone._**  
 ** _"Yes." Odin said._**  
 ** _Loki looked at him and then looked back away, shock etched onto his features._**  
 ** _"Why? You were knee deep in Jotun blood, why would you take me?" he asked, not understanding why Odin would take a baby Jotun._**  
 ** _Odin looked down at him and stated; "You were an innocent child."_**  
 ** _"No. You took me for a purpose. What was it?" Loki asked, tears effortlessly falling from his eyes. Odin stared back at him._**  
 ** _"Tell me!" Loki shouted when he did not answer._**  
 ** _"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance, bring about permanent peace. Through you."_**  
 ** _Loki stared back at Odin, hurt and betrayal written throughout his face. "What?"_**  
 ** _"But those plans no longer matter."_**  
 ** _"So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?" Loki asked his voice seeping with anger._**  
 ** _"Why must you twist my words?" Odin asked._**  
 ** _"You could have told me what I was. From the beginning. Why didn't you?!"_**  
 ** _"You're my son, I wanted to protect you from the truth."_**  
 ** _Loki looked away, tears in his eyes._**  
 ** _"What? Because I-I-I am the monster parents tell their children about at night? No, no. You know, it all makes sense now! Why you favored Thor all these years!" Loki yelled as Odin sat down, he did not look so well. "Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!" a crying Loki yelled at Odin, who was reaching for Loki._**  
 ** _Odin's arm slowly dropped and he laid on the steps lifeless._**  
It seemed that Loki had just found out something, something he probably could have gone the rest of his time without knowing.  
No wonder why this guy is the way he is, everything he ever knew was a lie. But why was he scared? Thor didn't seem to be upset about anything other than the fact that he can't take him back to Asgard like he wanted to. There must have been something else. He's not scared about going back to Asgard, even after finding out that he isn't Odin's son he would probably rather be there than here. He's not scared of S.H.I.E.L.D either... If this is a man who wishes to start a war, then why is he so terrified  
 ** _"So you take a world I love as a recompense for your imagined sights?" Thor asked not really understanding why Loki was doing this. Loki looked at him his brows furrowed, but Thor didn't wait for him to answer. "No. The Earth is under my protection, Loki." he said walking closer to Loki, who had began to laugh._**  
 ** _"And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, as why should I not?" Loki asked glaring at Thor._**  
 ** _"You think yourself above them?" asked Thor, looking at Loki with sad eyes._**  
 ** _"Well, yes."_**  
 ** _"Then you miss the truth of ruling brother. A throne would suit you ill." Thor said trying to convince Loki, obviously it didn't work. Loki shoved him aside storming back up the hill where they were before this depressing conversation even began. Thor following him._**  
 ** _"I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown," Loki said his back to Thor, he turned to face him just to hiss his next word- well name, "Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it-"_**  
 ** _"Who showed you this power?" Thor asked walking up to Loki. "Who controls the would-be king?"_**  
 ** _"I am a king!!"_**  
 ** _"Not here!" Thor yelled grabbing Loki's arms. "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" he yelled shaking Loki, he paused for a moment and changed his demeanor, he set his hand on Loki's neck forcing him to look him in the eye, and he said softer, and sadder, his next sentence. "You come home."_**  
 ** _Loki stared at Thor, and chuckled, a smile etched onto his features. And shook his head._**  
 ** _"I don't have it." he said just as softly as Thor had said his words._**  
 ** _Thor released Loki and held out his hand his hammer flying into it, he raised it, ready to strike if need be._**  
 ** _"You need the Cube to bring me home. But I sent it off, I know not where." Loki said quietly to Thor, who raised his hammer to point it at Loki._**  
 ** _"You listen well, Brother. I-" Thor said, he got cut off by Tony slamming into him. Leaving Loki, the villain- who can now escape, there all alone._**  
 ** _"I'm listening." Loki said._**  
"Loki," she said to break the silence, he looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed. "I know that you said that you weren't going to say anything- and that's okay- I just want to say something to you." she said standing up and staring at him. He looked away. "Okay.... Well, I understand, I guess. And I'm sorry for what happened on Asgard. You didn't deserve to be lied to all your life, no one deserves that, not even Frost Giants. I understand why you want to take over Earth, but I feel like you might not be doing it entirely for you." this got Loki's attention. He turned his gaze to her and walked to where she was standing- staring at him.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean, there is another reason why you are doing this... Someone is forcing this- this burden onto you. However, I know that you want to be equal to Thor. And if he rules a kingdom you must too. But Loki, Earth... Is not going to let you, it's not just going to roll over and take it without a fight. It doesn't matter the size of your army, it doesn't matter that you're a god. It doesn't matter that you have a scepter that can control somebody at your will. They will stop you. I won't. But they will."  
He tilted his head. "Why are you telling me this?"  
"Because S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't going to let you go, not without the Tesseract. And no matter what happens, the people out there," she said motioning to the camera feeding video to Nick and the others, "are going to make sure that you don't leave, and when you do you'll be leaving with Thor to face ' _Asgardian justice_ ', his words not mine."  
"Why aren't you going to stop me? You are a part of this team, are you not?"  
"I was basically kidnapped and forced to stay here. But once we get to land, I'm gone. I have no quarrel with you, you haven't done anything to me."  
"But- I plan to take over New York, is that not where you live? Surely you'd be angry that I am ruling your home."  
"I've been wanting to move to Europe for a long time, I'm debating on either Wales or Scotland." she said with her lips pursed, she looked at Loki who had his brows furrowed. She smiled slightly. "Loki, no matter what there will be someone to stop you. Always."  
"But you won't. You won't stop me because I haven't done anything to you at all? Do you not care about your home? Your town? Country?"  
"I do. But, I agree with you in a sense; the human race has done horrible things, they are weak, and they cheat and steal, and destroy, and disappoint. But they also give, and create and love. But above all, they never give up. They will all fight you." she said as she walked to the door.  
"You will all kneel to me. You are all beneath me!" he yelled at her back. She smirked and looked over her shoulder at him.  
_Banner. All I need to do is somehow, get him mad. He thought._  
(Y/n) smiled, she read his mind, she knew his plan, he can't win.  
"Thank you," she said with a nod. "For your cooperation." As she walked out she heard Loki quietly ask 'what?' not knowing that he had just given away his plan.


	7. What's the Plan?

(Y/n) quickly exited the room and went to find Tony. He was probably with Bruce trying to locate the Tesseract. She walked the halls of the Helicarrier, rushing past people, hell, if she can't find Tony, maybe she could find Fury. She turned a corner and ran face first into a broad chest with a star on it. She looked up to be met with the angered blue eyes of Steve Rogers.  
"Sorry, Cap." she muttered backing up a bit.  
"No problem, (Y/n). I wasn't watching where I was going." he replied scratching the back of his neck. She looked down and noticed he was carrying a strange object.  
"Hey, Steve... Whatcha got there?" she asked with her eyebrows raised. He shifted his stance.  
"Nothing important. Hey, do you by any chance know where Fury is?"  
(Y/n) shook her head no, and Steve let out a sigh.  
"Yeah, I need him too! I found out Loki's plan!!" she yelled tapping excitedly on Steve's chest. He smiled slightly at her and chuckled.  
"Well, I bet he's with Tony. Why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up with you, I have something I need to do."  
She looked at him and nodded, Steve gave her the directions to the room that he last saw Bruce and Tony in. She walked the halls and saw Natasha and Thor, she ran up to them.  
"Guys, I found out Loki's plan. He means to unleash the Hulk." she said catching her breath.  
"Are you sure?" Natasha asked. She nodded, Natasha pressed her earpiece to tell Fury. "Loki is gonna unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, we're on our way." They walked through the halls to the Lab. (Y/n) ran ahead to tell Tony that she actually did it. She walked in and a few seconds later Fury walked in.  
"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" he asked. Tony looked up at him.  
"Uh, kind of been wondering the same about you."  
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." Fury said looking at Tony.  
"We are. The model's locked and we are sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." Bruce said pointing to a screen, Fury turned to look at it.  
"Yeah, then you get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss." Tony said looking at the screen in front of him. "What is 'Phase 2'?"  
Steve walked in and set the object he was carrying down on the table. It was a gun.  
"Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me," he said looking at Tony.  
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean we are making..."  
"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony interrupted. "What were you lying?" he said turning the screen towards them. It looked like blueprints for weapons. (Y/n) looked at Fury, her eyes changing back to red.  
"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said as Natasha and Thor walked in.  
"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Natasha she looked at him.  
"You want to think about removing yourself from the room, Doctor?"  
"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed." he said with a smile. She walked forward towards him.  
"Loki is manipulating you." she said calmly. (Y/n) looked around the room, she began to feel a little uneasy.  
"And you've been doing what, exactly?"  
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."  
"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Bruce said walking over to the screen with the blue prints on it. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." (Y/n) looked to Fury, he looked at her and sighed.  
"Because of him," he said pointing at Thor.  
" _Me?_ " Thor asked confused.  
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly-"  
"And hilariously..." (Y/n) muttered.  
"...outgunned." Fury said looking at her.  
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor said defensively, Fury turned to him.  
"But you're not the only ones out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."  
"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve asked. Thor stepped forward.   
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor said looking at Fury.  
"A higher form?" Steve said. Fury looked at Thor.  
"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something."  
"A nuclear deterrent." (Y/n) said looking at Tony.  
"Because that always calms everything down." Tony said sarcastically as Fury turned to him.  
"Remind me again how you made your fortunate, Stark."  
"I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck-deep..." Steve said walking forward.  
Tony held up a hand to silence him. "Hold on. How is this now about me?"  
"Isn't everything?" Steve asked.  
Thor looked back at Fury. "I thought humans were more evolved than this."  
"Excuse me," Fury said turning towards him. "did we come to your planet and blow shit up?"  
"You treat your champions with such mistrust." Thor argued. Natasha looked at them both.  
"Are you boys really this naïve? S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats."  
Bruce looked at her, his arms crossed. "Captain America's on threat watch?"  
"We all are." Natasha said turning to him.  
(Y/n) looked around the room, everyone arguing with each other. It sounded like Tony called Steve an angry bumblebee or something. She looked at Loki's scepter and noticed that the blue was glowing bright.  
"Threat! Verbal threat. I feel threatened." Tony yelled.  
"Guys..." (Y/n) said looking at the scepter.  
"Show some respect." Steve yelled looking at Tony.  
"Respect what?"  
(Y/n) looked around the room as they all continued to argue, they were all trying to talk over each other but it just sounded like indistinguishable chatter.  
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor said with a smile.  
"That's his M.O., isn't it? I mean what are we a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb." Bruce said. Everyone stopped arguing and looked at him.  
"You need to step away," Fury said walking towards him.  
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked setting his hand on Steve's shoulder, Steve swatted it off.  
"You know damn well why. Back off!"  
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony said looking at the spangled man.  
"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor." Steve said with a smile. "Take that off and what are ya?"  
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony answered, (Y/n) nodded her head, he wasn't wrong.  
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself." everyone looked at Steve and Tony. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."  
"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony said staring at Steve. Steve smiled and looked at Bruce, then back to Tony.  
"Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."  
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came from a bottle." Tony said with a glare. (Y/n) looked around the room once more. Something bad was going to happen and she could feel it.  
"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." Steve said.  
Thor started laughing. "You people are so petty. And tiny."  
"Yeah, _this_ is a team," Bruce said.  
"Agent Romanoff, would you escort back to his..." Fury began looking at Bruce.  
"Where? You rented out my room." he said motioning in the direction of Loki's cell.  
"The cell was just in case..." Fury started but Bruce cut him off.  
"You needed to kill me." Bruce said looking him in the eye. "But you can't. I know, I tried." Everyone looked at Bruce. Steve looked like he knew someone who did, and Tony looked like he had tried as well- and so did (Y/n).  
"I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freakshow and put everyone here at risk." he said looking at Natasha. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"  
"Bruce..." (Y/n) said looking at him, he picked up the scepter and looked at Natasha. Fury put his hand on his gun.  
"Dr. Banner, put down the scepter." Steve said his eyebrows furrowed. Bruce looked down at the scepter in his hand, then a computer started to beep. Bruce set the scepter down.  
"Got it." Tony said looking at it. Bruce walked over to it.  
"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all."  
"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked as (Y/n) followed Bruce over to the computer.  
"I can get there faster." Tony said.  
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it."  
"You're not going alone." Steve said grabbing Tony by the arm.  
"You gonna stop me?" Tony asked slapping his hand away.  
"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve replied.  
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Tony said getting into Steve's face.  
"Put on the suit," Steve said through gritted teeth as the computer continued to beep.  
“The testosterone in this room is too fucking high,” (Y/n) stated as her and Bruce looked at the computer screen.

GAMMA SIGNATURE LOCATION  
lat 45°66 12'N /lon 76°87 32'W  
ENERGY SIGNATURE MATCH 100%

(Y/n) looked at Bruce, then to Tony, confusion and fear written all over her face.  
"Oh, my god." Bruce said taking off his glasses. (Y/n) walked towards Tony and Steve and an explosion went off. (Y/n) fell on top of Steve. She quickly got up.  
"Sorry..." she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.   
Steve looked at her his cheeks slightly pink. “I-it's fine.” he turned to Tony. "Put on the suit.”  
"Yeah." Tony said as they both scrambled to their feet. The three of them ran out the door.


	8. My Bargain

"We've got a perimeter breach! Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. Call-outs at every junction." an agent said over the PA.  
(Y/n) rushed through the halls to the detention level where Loki's cell was. She went ran in and looked at him, her eyes wide and scared. He looked at her questioningly.   
"You wanna get out of here?" she asked him, he nodded, confused but willing. "What do you need?"  
"I ask for so little, just let me rule you and you can have anything you want."  
"Anything?"  
"Anything."  
"Don't hurt anyone on this Helicarrier. And I will go with you."  
"That's all it takes to get you to come with me and let me rule you? Not hurting your little friends?" Loki asked looking at her through the glass, she nodded. "Then so be it. I won't hurt anyone on the Helicarrier. You have my word on that."  
She looked at him and read him. He seemed sincere, but was hiding something. But she didn't care at that moment, just as long as her friends were safe. She walked over to the control panel and opened his cell.  
He smiled at her. "Why help me, dear?"  
"S.H.I.E.L.D plans to use the tesseract for weapons, so right now they are no better than you." Loki looked at her, a little hurt. She looked up at him. "But, you're not what they make you out to be. They say that you're a bad man, but I don't believe that. They think you're a bad person, but I believe that you're a very good person who bad things have happened to."  
He stared at her, his entire demeanor changing. He no longer looked angry or like he was plotting something, but he looked small, genuinely sad and terrified but also surprised.  
"You don't believe that." he said stepping out of the cell and walking towards her, she stood her ground as he did so.  
"I don't lie, Loki. I truly believe what I said. I knew from the moment I interrogated you that something bad was going to happen, and I knew that you would need someone to help. I volunteer, as long as these people are safe." she stated looking into his eyes, him looking into her beautiful orbs; a small smile gracing his face.  
"As long as they are on this helicarrier, they are safe." he said with a smile.  
Just then Thor came in and there was another Loki in the cell, Thor charged at him and Loki disappeared, Thor fell to the ground and was locked in the cell.  
The real Loki chuckled. "Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?"  
Thor looked at Loki and banged his hammer on the glass, causing the whole cell to shift. If he hit it it would probably fall. Loki looked at him and let out a small laugh.  
"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki asked standing next to (Y/n), he then moved closer to the control panel. (Y/n) looked at Thor who was staring at her, his eyes, and thoughts, pleading with her.  
**_Lady (Y/n), I don't know what he has said to you, but I will assure you that he is lying. Don't believe him._**  
 _Thor, Loki isn't a bad guy, he isn't doing this for himself._  
 _**Yes, I know that but you don't know Loki like I do. I know my brother like I know my own mind. You will never find anyone as conniving and deceitful as him. I love my brother, more than anything in this life, and I would choose his happiness over mine anytime, but this isn't one of those moments.**_  
_I've seen his mind Thor, I can help him. I promise._  
"Move away, please." Coulson said aiming a gun at Loki. They all looked at him, Loki began to back away from the panel.  
"You like this?" Coulson said walking forward. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." he pushed a button and it powered up. "Do you want to find out?"  
(Y/n) looked at the Loki that was once standing next to her, it was a fake. She looked behind Coulson her eyes wide as Loki stabbed him in the chest.  
"No!" Thor yelled. (Y/n) covered her mouth with her hand, tears welling in her eyes. Thor looked angrily at Loki, who walked back over to (Y/n). He pressed the button opening the drop. (Y/n) looked at Loki a smile on his face, she looked at Thor with sad eyes and mouthed "sorry."  
"(Y/n)! Don't!" Thor yelled, trying to plead with the woman. She looked at Loki and pressed the cell button so it dropped through the air. Loki stared at her.  
"How did you know I was going to do that?"  
"Lucky guess," she replied looking at the hole, regret washing over her.  
"You're going to lose." Coulson said looking at Loki. He turned to look at him.  
"Am I?"  
"It's in your nature."  
"Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where exactly is my disadvantage?" Loki asked walking over to him. Coulson looked at him, blood dripping from his mouth.  
"You lack conviction."  
"I don't think I'm..." Loki said as Coulson fired the gun at him, sending him flying through a wall.  
"So, that's what it does." Coulson said. (Y/n) looked at Coulson and smiled slightly, as a single tear fell. She walked over to Loki and looked down at him. He got up and looked at her.  
"Thank you, (Y/n)." Loki said resting a hand on her shoulder, she looked at it, then up at him.  
"For what? Launching Thor out of the Helicarrier?" she said with a frown.   
Loki smiled. "No, thank you for believing in me, the real me. I don't know what S.H.I.E.L.D would want with a mortal like you, but I'm glad that they have you." he said looking into her light pink eyes. "Let's get going." he said removing his hand and walking away from her.   
She looked quizzically at his back at his sudden change in tone, and followed not because he told her to, not because that was the agreement that the two had come to, but because she promised Thor.  
(Y/n) walked pass Coulson and crouched next to him, she took an envelope out of her pocket and set it in his.  
She and Loki walked out of the room and made their way to a jet waiting for them.  
She just turned her back on her friends for a mischievous god, all because of a gut feeling. She couldn't do anything but hope that this was the right decision.


	9. Home

"We are heading to Stark tower, that is where the Tesseract can reach its full potential." Loki told (Y/n) as they flew in the plane. Barton had been knocked out by Natasha, so (Y/n) and Selvig were Loki's only insights into S.H.I.E.L.D.  
She looked out the window and remembered something that Tony had been complaining about. "Well, you're in luck, there has been security breaches, so you should go unnoticed. And if not, I know a secret way to get in." she said looking at him from the corner of her eye. He leaned his head back and yawned. "Get some sleep, Loki. You may be a god, but I'm sure that you need some rest. You look like you're dying."  
He turned his head to face her. "I'm fine. Why don't you go to sleep, you are a mortal after all."  
She chuckled. "Loki, I am not going to betray you." she said looking at him, his eyes were filled with sleep, he looked rather adorable. "I won't!"  
"I know, (Y/n). I know." he shifted in his seat so he could attempt at catching some z's. "You know, I am actually kinda glad that I came to earth. If I didn't then I wouldn't have met you. You truly are an exquisite human being ..." Loki murmured as he drifted to sleep.  
(Y/n) continued to look at him. This Loki seems like a small, insecure, afraid man. He doesn't even seem like a god anymore, he seems almost human. How can someone go from being so cold to being so vulnerable?

  
···············

  
"Hill, where is (Y/n)?" Fury asked the brunette agent. She looked at him and cleared her throat.  
"To be honest sir, we don't know. We last had visual of her running to see if Loki was still in his cell. Coulson would have been the last person to see her."  
Fury nodded. "So, Loki probably took her?"  
"Most likely, sir. We have also lost Thor and Banner."  
Fury sighed and rubbed his head. "So we've lost the only person who has fought Loki first hand we have lost the only person who actually knew how to get inside his mind, and there is an angry green giant loose in the city?" Maria nodded her head looking sorrowfully at her director. "Hill, I think Stark is going to kill us. We lost his best friend to the god of mischief and lies, the one who killed Coulson and other citizens."  
"To be honest, sir. I would rather face Loki than an angry Tony Stark." Hill said trying to lighten the mood.  
Fury let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah, me too." Fury looked at the envelope and cards in his hands, then up to Hill.

  
~~~

  
Tony and Steve sat at the table, Fury standing at the other end looking at the objects in his hand. Steve stared at the table, and Tony stared at the floor.  
"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury said after long silence. "Guess he never did get you to sign them." he said tossing the cards to Steve. They landed haphazardly on the table, blood still on them. Steve reached forward and picked one up.  
Fury looked at Tony. "This was found for you, it's not Coulson's handwriting so I don't know what it could be." he said tossing it to Tony. He grabbed it from the table and looked at it. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor, (Y/n).... I got nothing for you."  
Tony looked up at Fury his big brown eyes even bigger. Had they really lost his best friend?  
"I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that comin'." The director said shaking his head slightly. Steve looked at the cars and Tony's gaze returned to the floor. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier." Fury said walking around the table. "There was an idea, Stark knows this," Steve looked at Tony.  
"It's called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more." Fury said looking at Steve. "It was to see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."  
Tony stood up abruptly and walked away, the letter still in his hand.  
"Well, it's an old-fashioned notion." Fury said putting his hands behind his back.  
Tony walked into a room and put his head in his hands. His best friend was gone, Loki took her and he has no idea where they could even be. He leaned back and looked at the letter in his hand. He opened it and began to read:  
_Tony,_  
 _If you're reading this it means that you can't find me… that S.H.I.E.L.D. has lost eyes on me… But don't worry, okay. I am going to be fine. I went with Loki willingly, and I know you're going to say that ‘he is a bad person,’ and that ‘he plans to end New York and kill anyone who stands in his way.’ But, I saw his mind, Tony, I've seen his past, and I know that he isn't doing this on his freewill… he is being forced Tony, I trust this gut feeling._  
 _I hope that I didn't betray you guys, Tony, but I am going to try and stop him before he takes over New York._  
 _If something happens and I don't see you again… I just want to say that I’m sorry. I'm sorry if I failed you, I'm sorry if you feel betrayed, and I'm sorry if I have let you down… I think that I can stop him, but if I don't, I tried. And you guys can probably handle him more than I can._  
 _I love you, Tony. Even though you piss me off sometimes you are always there when I need you to be, and I thank you for that. You're basically the only family that I have and I’m glad that you have been with me all these years. And if I don't make it, please don't insult my memory, don't get revenge, I will die and that is that. Just promise that you will put your differences and jealousy with Steve aside and save New York. Thank you._  
 _Love,_  
 _(Y/n) Hart_

  
···············

  
(Y/n) walked down the hallway of Stark Towers to the room that used to be hers. She had made some of Loki's henchmen carry him to the room so he could rest before the battle started. She didn't know why but there was something about this 'suppose to be' villain that made her doubt everything she had come to know.  
She stood in front of the door, not knowing if she should knock or not, she could hear soft snores coming from the other side of the door. She couldn't ask J.A.R.V.I.S. to wake him up so she didn't have to deal with a moody god because she had to hack the AI so they could get into the building.  
She took a deep breath and opened the door quietly. She peeked around it and saw that he was still asleep, and... shirtless. She chuckled and looked at the floor and, carefully, made her way over to the bed. Loki shifted slightly, making (Y/n) flinch. She smiled softly and shook him a bit.  
"Loki..." she said softly, he groaned and turned away from her. "Loki, you need to get up." she said, the anger rising in her voice.  
"No..." he said into the pillow that was now over his head. She growled and ripped the pillow off of him.  
"Get up now. I guarantee that they will be here soon and I don't want to have to fight against them because I have no idea what that thing is gonna do. I'm only here because I believe in you, not that box and certainly not the Chitauri!" she yelled as she threw the pillow to the wall and stormed out of the room.  
Loki stretched and looked at the ceiling. "Well, I guess I'm getting up then." he muttered.

  
~~~

  
(Y/n) waited at the bar for the god to arrive, Selvig was on the roof doing stuff with the Tesseract. Its no doubt that Tony would be here soon. She poured a glass of whiskey and looked at the New York skyline. Loki was now standing next to her.  
"(Y/n), can I ask you something?" he inquired turning to face her.  
"Well, you just did..." she smiled, Loki furrowed his brows.  
"Can I ask you another question then?"  
"You just- yeah go ahead." she laughed, watching the sleepless city go about its business unsuspecting of what would be happening in a matter of minutes.  
"Well, back on the Helicarrier, you said that you understand what happened. Almost as if you were there or you've been in that type of situation. And I want to know what that means."  
"That wasn't a question- that was a demand; and I was there- in a sense." she said looking at Loki, who visibly grew more confused.  
"You see, I can read your mind, and see your memories. Everything you've ever felt, seen, experienced, I can tap into that."  
"So- so you saw what happened between the all father and I? You know that I am a frost giant, and a traitor to the kingdom that raised me and yet you still wish to help me? Why?"  
"Because I've been there. Loki when I was just a little kid I was put up for adoption. I didn't know anything about my real parents other than the fact that they hated me. I did get adopted, and I grew up with a pretty good family, I had a brother and two loving parents, but I knew something was wrong..." she paused and looked to the ground. "When I was twelve I could hear my 'mom' talking from the kitchen, she was saying how they will need to tell me eventually, and that my brother, Adam, had already dropped hints of me being adopted. So I wondered what she was talking about and I walked into the kitchen, I still heard her voice but she was standing at the sink, washing dishes, her mouth not moving at all."  
"So that's when you discovered your power?" Loki asked tilting his head to get a better look at her. She nodded.  
"Well, yeah, most of my power. I was so scared I didn't know what was happening. So I ignored it and thought I was crazy. On my sixteenth birthday is where I finally got confirmation that I was adopted. I had asked them about the day when I was twelve and told them how I heard mom say something about it, leaving out the part that it was in her mind, I had told them that I heard them talking one night, and they told me that I was adopted." she said walking over to the bar and taking a seat on the counter, Loki followed her and leaned against it.  
"Then what?"  
"They told me how the foster home said that my real parents were acting frantic and said that they didn't want me anymore because I am a freak and a monster. I was only three. I didn't understand anything." she said looking at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "I have multiple powers, Loki. I can read minds and memories, but I can also shapeshift into other people... Apparently that's what set my real parents off, I had saw some kid on the t.v and I morphed into them."  
"So they abandoned you because they didn't understand?"  
"Essentially, yes. My adoptive parents lied to me about being adopted, but they also lied to me when I asked if there was something wrong with me. They said that my parents were probably strung out or something. But they had this look on their faces that screamed deception."  
"They lied to you about who and what you were..." he said quietly, she nodded a tear slipping out of her eye, she quickly wiped it away.  
"So, I truly do empathize with you Loki. I know how it feels to be lied to about who you are." she said with a sad smile. "You should feel special, the only other person I've told this to is Tony. I've also come to realize that it doesn't matter what you are, it only matters what you do..."  
Loki stared at her, he never thought that he would find anyone that actually knew what he had been through, he especially didn't think it would be a mortal.  
"(Y/n), I can't help but feel-" Loki started but got cut off by (Y/n) looking out the window.  
"Tony..." she said looking at the sky. Loki looked at her then walked outside. He stood looking up at Tony.


	10. I'm Sorry

Tony landed on the platform and his suit was being taken off. (Y/n) watched as Loki began to walk back inside.  
"Hide." she said grabbing his arm and dragging him inside.  
"What? Why?"  
"Just do it." she said turning into him. She walked away and looked at Tony.  
"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." she said with a smile.  
"Uh, actually I plan to threaten you." Tony said walking down the stairs to the bar. She continued to walk forward, her appearance of Loki not faltering.  
"Should have left your armor on for that."  
"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage. And you've got the glow stick of destiny." Tony said pointing at the scepter in 'her' hand, she looked down and smirked. "Would you like a drink?"  
"Stalling me won't change anything," she said switching the scepter into her other hand.  
"No, no. I'm threatening. No drink? You sure?" Tony said walking behind the bar.  
He is about as threatening as a chihuahua... She thought.  
"I'm having one." Tony said as she turned to look out the window.  
"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"  
"The Avengers."Tony said opening a bottle of alcohol. She looked at him in confusion. Tony rolled his eyes. "That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes- type thing."  
"Yes, I've met them."  
"Yeah. It takes us a while go get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here... Your brother, the demigod," (Y/n) turned away like she was disgusted by the words. "A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."  
"That was the plan," she said with a wink.  
"Not a great plan. When they come," Tony said walking out from behind the bar, drink in hand. "and they will, they'll come for you."  
"I have an army," she said standing her ground.  
"We have a Hulk."  
"I thought the beast had wandered off."  
"You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. _Maybe_ your army comes and _maybe_ it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." Tony said taking a drink of his drink. (Y/n) walked towards him.  
"How will your friends have time for me... when they're so busy fighting you." she hissed bringing the scepter to his chest.  
Now she knows about Tony's arc reactor, but Loki doesn't, so she is merely doing this because it's what Loki would probably do. The scepter tapped his arc reactor, making a 'ting' sound. She pulled back the scepter and did it once more, and when it didn't work she furrowed her brows.  
"This usually works..."  
"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five..." Tony joked, she grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the side.  
"Sorry..." she whispered.  
"J.A.R.V.I.S., anytime now." Tony said as he pushed himself up from the floor. 'Loki' walked over to him and grabbed his throat once more.  
"You will all fall before me."  
"Deploy!" Tony yelled. She lifted him up higher and threw him out the window. "Deploy!"  
She turned around as Tony's Mark 7, for lack of a better word, deployed and knocked her to the ground. She got up just in time to see Tony in his Iron Man suit float by the window she just threw him out of.  
"And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil."  
She slowly raised the scepter and Tony shot her. She groaned and flew backwards Loki's weapon falling from her grasp. Just then the Tesseract had awoken? It blasted a beam into the sky drawing Tony's attention away from her, a portal opened.  
"Right. Army." Tony muttered. He flew off to fight them. (Y/n) turned over on her side and coughed. She slowly got up and looked for Loki, but she couldn't find him, turns out he was outside. Talking to Thor. She walked outside and hid.  
_Now's your chance, (Y/n), leave him! He can fight his own battle now. You have to go help the civilians!_ Her conscience yelled. Of course she knew that she had to, but. She couldn't just leave him. He's confused and frightened, Thor just can't see that.  
"Turn off the Tesseract, or I'll destroy it."  
"You can't. There is no stopping it, there is only the war."  
"So be it." Thor said staring at Loki.  
Loki jumped down at Thor with his scepter raised. Thor dodged it and swung his hammer at Loki, who actually blocked it.  
(Y/n) sat back not exactly sure of what to do. Should she just let them battle it out or should he step in?  
Loki swung his scepter at Thor's head, to which he ducked, but Loki fired a blue light at him. Thor blocked it with his hammer and swung at Loki who blocked it. Loki fired again but hit the 'k' on the STARK logo and it fell to the ground below. People were screaming below as Tony flew through the sky chasing after the Chitauri.  
Loki and Thor continued to fight and (Y/n) knew what she had to do, she didn't exactly know how she'd do it, but she knew she had to....  
Loki smashed Thor's head into the glass as Natasha and Clint saw him from the jet. He threw Thor to the side and began to shoot the jet as they shot at him. Thor glared at Loki and tackled him they began to fist fight. The jet went down.  
(Y/n) held her breath and stood up.  
"Loki!" she yelled running over to the two quarreling gods. She pulled Thor off of him and stood between them. "Look at this. Look around you. Loki remember what we talked about earlier?" she asked him softly. Thor looked at her then to his 'brother.'  
"You think this madness will end with your rule?!" he yelled. Loki looked at them, mainly (Y/n).  
"It's... too late. It's too late to stop it." he said looking over the edge.  
"No. We can, together." Thor said pleading. Loki looked at him a smile on his face. (Y/n) lowered her arms and smiled at Thor. He smiled back, Loki walked to his brother and stabbed him in the lower abdominal area.  
"Loki!" (Y/n) gasped, Thor fell to his knee clutching the wound.  
"Sentiment..." he muttered. Thor got up and kicked Loki in the stomach, sending him back first into the glass. He picked him up and threw him to the ground, Loki rolled off the building and landed on one of the Chitauri rides.  
(Y/n) turned to Thor and he looked at her. "I tried to reason with him Thor. I tried-" she said looking at the ground. He nodded and walked over to her. He put his hand under her chin and raised it so she was looking at him.  
"(Y/n), it's alright. Loki is not one who can be reasoned with anymore. It's not your fault."  
She looked into his blue eyes and nodded.  
"Now let's go help the others," he said ripping the dagger from his hip and tossing it to the ground. Thor wrapped an arm around her waist and jumped from the building. He used his hammer to fly them over to the others and electrocute some Chitauri that were ganging up on them.  
"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked walking over to them.  
"The power surrounding the Tesseract is impenetrable." (Y/n) said looking at him. Thor nodded.  
"(Y/n)'s right. We have to deal with these guys." Tony said flying over them chasing Chitauri.  
"How do we do that?" Natasha asked looking at Steve.  
"As a team." Steve said taking in a deep breath.  
"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor growled.  
"Yeah? Well, get in line." Barton said fiddling with some arrows. (Y/n) looked at him, and realized he was the one that was supposedly compromised.  
_Seems he's fought the Tesseracts control. Maybe Loki can..._  
"Save it." Steve said in a harsh tone. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild." He said sounding like a leader. "We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to..."  
Just then Bruce pulled up on a motorcycle. Everyone looked at him, and (Y/n) smiled slightly. They all walked over to him.  
"So, this all seems horrible." he stated once they were all by him. Natasha looked at him.  
"I've seen worse." Natasha said.  
"Sorry."  
"No, we could use a little worse." she said with a small smirk. Bruce looked at her a small smile on his lips.  
"Stark we got him." Steve said. "Just like you said."  
"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony said as he flew over bringing a giant monster behind him. They all watched. (Y/n) stood next to Barton.  
"I-I don't see how that's a party." (Y/n) and Natasha said in unison.  
Both Tony and the monster flew closer to the ground, the monster crushing the cars below. Bruce looked at the group and turned around.  
"Dr. Banner!" Steve said stepping forward. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."  
Bruce continued to walk forward."That's my secret, Captain... I'm always angry." he said, then he turned into the giant, green, man filled with anger. The Hulk.  
He punched the monster in the face area and it began to slow down, his feet were digging into the pavement. The monsters body began to do a flip.  
"Hold on!" Tony said as he flew over and blasted the creature. Natasha and Steve hid behind his shield, whilst Barton grabbed (Y/n) and they ducked behind a car, her body being shielded by his- he didn't even know her and he was already risking his life for her, Thor just shielded himself with his arm (no joke, he just used his arm, not even the one with mjolnir in it). The creature exploded.  
Everyone moved closer together as the Chitauri grew closer. They all readied their weapons.... Well, most of them... (Y/n) doesn't have weapons, so she just has her fists.... she definitely looks the most out of place, she doesn't even have a cool outfit like the others.  
"Guys..." Natasha said looking up at the sky. Everyone looked and saw more Chitauri and more monsters coming out.  
"Call it Captain..." (Y/n) said cracking her knuckles.  
"All right. Listen up. Until we can close that portal, out priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call put patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, turn it back or you turn it to ash."  
"Can you give me a lift?" Barton asked Tony. (Y/n) looked at her iron friend then to the archer.  
"Right. Better clench up, Legolas."  
_I understood that reference._ (Y/n) thought.  
Tony walked over to him and grabbed the back of his shirt and blasted off. Taking Barton high into the sky.  
"Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Thor swung his hammer around then flew into the air. Steve turned to (Y/n) and Natasha.  
"You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk," Steve said turning to the green man. "Smash." Hulk smiled and jumped onto a Chitauri, and flung it into another building then went to attack other ones. Thor flew up to a large building and began to conjure up some lightning and sent it at the portal in the sky.  
(Y/n) looked at the sky and watched as another creature kinda swam above them. She went to focus her attention back on Natasha and Steve only to have one of the Chitauri's fist fly at her face, hitting her right in the eye. She immediately punched it back and swiped it's legs out from underneath it, causing it to fall and drop it's staff. She picked it up and shot it in the head. She turned and shot one that was coming up behind Natasha.  
"Thanks," she said as she grabbed it's weapon. (Y/n) nodded.  
"No problem."  
Steve walked over to the both of them and Natasha readied her weapon, but lowered it once she realized it was just him.  
"Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Natasha said leaning against a car. The three of them looked up at the giant hole in the sky.  
"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve said.  
(Y/n) tilted her head and rested against car. "Maybe it's not about guns..." she said looking at Natasha. Steve looked at the two women.  
"You wanna get up there, you're going to need a ride." he said, (Y/n) looked over his shoulder and nudged Natasha. She looked behind the Captain and pushed herself off the car.  
"I got a ride." she said dropping the staff and walking away. Steve looked up and saw Chitauri flying above him. "I could use a boost, though."  
Steve backed up and looked her. "Are you sure about this?"  
Natasha looked up at the sky and then back to Steve. "Yeah. It's gonna be fun." she said. She took a deep breath and ran towards him, she jumped on the car and springboarded onto his shield, he pushed her up into the air and she grabbed onto one of their enemies ships.  
(Y/n) and Steve watched with smiles on their faces as their companion hitched a ride through the city.  
(Y/n) looked at Steve and gave him a thumbs up. "Great work, Captain."  
"You're the one who gave her the idea to even get up there." he said looking at her his smile fading slightly. "What happened to your eye?"  
"Ehh... Got punched. It'll heal. After All what's a war without some battle wounds?"  
Steve nodded. Just then his shield got hit. Both of their attention turned towards the small Chitauri army that was near them. They began to fight. Steve using his shield to help him, whilst (Y/n) used the stolen staff. The fight was droning on and (Y/n) ended up getting the staff knocked from her hands so she began to fist fight with one of them. Tony flew over to help them, which it really did.  
"Guys," (Y/n) said quietly, Steve looked to her as Tony blasted his shield and it refectled to the Chitauri. "I know that this is not the time and place, but I just wanted to say-" she said as she kicked one of the soldiers in the face. "-that I'm sorry for leaving with Loki."  
"It's okay, (Y/n)." Steve said hitting one of the enemies with his shield.  
"You're here now, fighting with us, all is forgiven." Tony said and with that he flew towards the building where Barton was stationed and began to knock the climbing Chitauri off.  
(Y/n) and Steve continued to fight the enemy. Helping each other out as much as they could. Steve got knocked to the ground and a Chitauri was trying to blast his face off. (Y/n) tapped it on the shoulder and roundhouse kicked it in the face. Getting it off her friend.  
"Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison." Barton's voice rang through their earpieces. (Y/n) held out her hand to help him up, which he accepted with a small smile. "They've cornered a lot of civilians in there." Steve looked at (Y/n) and nodded.  
"We're on it."  
[I'm not sure, but I think that Steve rode the bike that Bruce rode to the bank]  
The pair reached the bank and entered through a window on the second floor. Steve didn't even notice (Y/n)'s superhuman like agility.  
When they got in Steve threw his shield at one of the Chitauri's heads sending him to the ground dropping the device that was in his hand. The other two soldiers turned to face the two Avengers their weapons pointed right at them. They each fired a shot, but (Y/n) and Steve ducked behind a desk.  
"What now, Captain?" (Y/n) asked peaking around the desk slightly to look at the two aliens.  
"I have an idea," Steve said. (Y/n) turned to him. "Push." he then began to push the desk with his foot, (Y/n) pushed as well, but with her hands. They shoved it forward, both of their super strength coming into play- it knocked one of their targets over. The other one stumbled a little.  
Steve hopped over the desk and began to punch it. He then threw it over the balcony once it was finished. (Y/n) walked forward and looked down at the hostages.  
"Everyone! Clear out!" she yelled. Just as she did so, one of the Chitauri jumped on Steve and began to choke him with his arm and pulled off his mask. (Y/n) noticed the other one starting to get up as well, it raised it's gun and fired in Steve's direction, but he had already gotten out of the other ones grip, so it got shot instead of him.  
(Y/n) ran and grabbed Steve, as the device started to beep really fast, it was a bomb. The two heroes ran to the window, Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and held up his shield as the explosion went off, sending them out the window. And they landed on a car....  
(Y/n) sat up and groaned as she looked down at Steve. He raised his head a little and moaned, he rolled off the car and landed on his feet. The two watched as firemen and police officers ushered civilians out of the bank.  
(Y/n) was shocked by all the damage to the city... But Steve looked shocked and furious, but he also looked a little scared. (Y/n) slid off the car and stood next to Steve.  
"What do you reckon, Cap?" she asked crossing her arms. Steve sighed.  
"We end this. Once and for all."

  
···············

  
Loki crashed onto the patio of Stark Tower. He lifted his head and watched as the Hulk jumped onto the space and punched him in the chest, sending him crashing into the wall.  
Loki groaned as he hit the floor. His cape covering his face slightly. He angrily whipped it back and glared at the beast.  
Hulk smashed his fists into the floor and charged towards Loki once more.  
"Enough!" Loki yelled once he reached his feet. "You are, all of you, beneath me!" Hulk stopped and stared at Loki. "I am a god, you dull creature. And I will not be bullied by-"  
Hulk grabbed him by the leg and swung him five times into the ground.  
"Puny god." the green beast muttered as he walked away.  
Loki laid in the crater whimpering in pain.

  
···············

  
(Y/n), Steve, and Thor continuously fought the Chitauri. Thor hitting them with his hammer, Steve hitting them with his shield and a couple of fists, and (Y/n) just hitting them with her fists and an occasional kick.  
She turns to help Thor and as she does, Steve gets shot in the stomach and goes down. The Chitauri continue to fire as Steve lays on the ground, Thor pushed (Y/n) behind him and blocked their shots with mjolnir. Steve slowly got up as Thor hit mjolnir against a car and it went flying into some Chitauri bastards. He turned and threw the hammer at an enemy.  
(Y/n) lent Steve a hand and let him lean on her a little, just until he regained himself.  
"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor asked. Steve rested his hand on his abdomen where he got shot.  
"What are you getting sleepy?" Steve asked with a smile. (Y/n) chuckled lightly, as Thor smirked, he held out his hand and his hammer flew right into it.  
"I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down." Natasha's called through the ear piece.  
"Do it!" (Y/n) and Steve exclaimed together.  
"No, wait." Tony said. Steve looked at the sky.  
"Tony, the Chitauri are still coming." (Y/n) said looking at the portal.  
"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute... And I know just where to put it."  
(Y/n) looked at Steve, worry written all over her face.  
"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Steve said looking at (Y/n). She looked back up at the sky, Thor and Steve's gaze following hers.  
Tony flew above them holding onto the nuke, heading straight for the portal. He clipped the side of his tower and flew into the portal.  
(Y/n)'s hands balled into fists, she's officially lost everyone she's ever cared about.  
The Chitauri soldiers began to power down. The heroes all watched the sky waiting for him to return.  
"Close it..." Steve muttered to Natasha. Who did exactly what she was told. (Y/n) clenched her jaw and glared at the portal. Her eyes began to turn red with anger. She was angry at Tony for sacrificing himself like that, heroic but dumb; she was mad at Steve for not waiting longer for him to possibly return; she was angry at Natasha for closing the portal; but she was mostly angry at herself for agreeing to get out of bed when Tony called her. As the portal closed, Tony fell out at the last minute.  
"Son of a bitch." (Y/n) said with a small smile. She, Thor and Steve watched as Tony fell through the sky.  
"He's not slowing down." Thor said as he started to swing mjolnir around, getting ready to fly up and save him. But before he could the Hulk jumped into the air and grabbed Tony, lunging into a building and springboarding onto the ground, clutching Tony to his chest.  
He sat up and threw Tony to the side. The three avengers hurried over to see them. Thor turning Tony onto his back.  
"Is he breathing?"Steve asked. (Y/n) crouched down as Thor ripped off the mask.  
She leaned over him and listened. He wasn't breathing. She rested her hand on his chest and looked at Steve, then down to the ground. They all looked sad, but Hulk looked really sad.  
Just then the Hulk roared and Tony gasped for air. (Y/n) looked at Tony then at Hulk and smiled. Hulk roared once more. She looked back down at Tony.  
"What the hell?" he asked, Thor smirked. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." [Hulk did in the Lego Avengers video game]  
Steve took a deep breath and looked around. "We won."  
Tony sighed and laid his head back down. "All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." Tony babbled. (Y/n) shook her head and stood up.  
"We're not finished yet." she muttered. Steve looked at her, as did Tony.  
"And then shawarma after."

  
···············

  
The Avengers watched as Loki slowly climbed the steps, groaning as he came to a stop. He turned slowly and looked at them. Clint pointed his bow at him.  
"If it's all the same to you. I'll have that drink now." Loki said. Hulk growled at him.


	11. So... Goodbye?

(Y/n) looked at Loki, he had slight scuffs on his pale face from his altercation with Bruce. She looked at the ground as Tony wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Sure, she was happy that New York was safe, the Chitauri are now gone, and she has made some new super friends... But there was still one thing that was eating away at her, and she had no idea why. Would she ever see Loki again, or was this it?  
Even though the god has caused so much trouble for her and her friends, she can't help but feel something for him. And it's a feeling she hasn't felt in what seems like forever.  
"Any last words Ms. Hart?" Steve asked looking at her. Silly Steve, always so formal. She looked up at Loki and felt her heart start racing.  
"Uh... Yea... I guess." she walked over to Loki and looked at the rest of the group, they were talking to each other trying not to eavesdrop but they were making it blatantly obvious that they were listening. "So, you're going to rot in an Asgardian prison, huh?" she whispered, he looked at the ground and nodded. "Well, I'm sure you'll get special treatment, after all you are the prince.”  
"Yes, but not to that kingdom. I have no ties to Asgard other than the fact that I grew up there. They're not my family." he hissed. She rolled her eyes and rested a hand on his shoulder.  
"Loki, a wise man once told me 'family don't end in blood,' and you know what? It doesn't start there either. Family cares about you, not what you can do for them. Family is there for the good, the bad, all of it. Even when it hurts. That's family." (Y/n) said looking at the god in front of her.  
Loki looked into her eyes. She seems to be wise beyond her age. Even though he's only known her for about a day, it seems like it's been forever. She knows his backstory and he knows hers. She makes him feel safe, secure, she makes him feel like he's loved... But most importantly she makes him feel love- could Loki be falling for this mortal?  
"So this is it? I'm going to be taken away to Asgard, and I'm never going to see you again?" Loki asked furrowing his eyebrows.  
The thought of not seeing each other again, made them both feel heartache, even though neither of them would ever admit it. (Y/n) shrugged and turned towards Thor who was talking to Tony and Steve, she turned back to Loki and smiled.  
"I'm sure this isn't the end." she said removing her hand from his shoulder. "We'll see each other again."  
"And if not?"  
She pursed her lips in thought and looked into his green eyes. "Then promise me a place in your house of memories."  
He looked down at her and nodded. She smiled and he smiled. (Y/n) quickly looked at the others who were actually not paying attention.  
_Seriously? I could literally just break these chains and set him free. Not that I would do that considering I'm a good guy. I'm an Avenger for Pete's sake._ She turned back to Loki, stood on her tiptoes and quickly kissed his cheek.  
"Enjoy your prison cell," (Y/n) teased. Loki smiled, a genuine smile that made her heart flutter.  
"Enjoy cleaning up the city," he joked. (Y/n) stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Thor.  
"I think you can put his muzzle on now."  
Thor laughed and handed it to her. "You do it, he'd probably bite me."  
(Y/n) chuckled and turned back to Loki. "It's just a safety precaution," she smirked putting it on him. Loki rolled his eyes, but she could tell he was smiling.  
She stood back next to Clint, as Thor said his goodbyes to everyone, but he promised to come back and take (Y/n) to Asgard to meet his parents, because he's sure they'd want to meet at least one of the mortals who helped bring down Loki- he just happens to like her the most.  
When the two gods disappeared, it was the other's turn to say Goodbyes.  
"See you around, kid," Natasha said pulling (Y/n) into a hug. (Y/n) smiled and hugged Natasha back.  
"Yeah," she said. They pulled apart and she hugged Clint. When the team went for shawarma the two got to know each other better- they quickly bonded over their love of archery and coffee. "Stay in touch, Clint."  
"I will if you do," he said with smile. She nodded as he got in the car with Natasha.  
"So, (Y/n), you gonna join Bruce and I?" Tony asked, she looked at him and shook her head.  
"No, I think I'm gonna head home. I only live about two blocks from here, so I'll just walk."  
Tony smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you." he whispered.  
She pulled away from him and looked into his brown eyes. "For what?"  
"For agreeing to help. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have defeated Loki," he said with a smirk. "You may not like it, but you're a hero now, (Y/n)." she smiled and looked at the ground.  
"Yeah... We all are." she said looking at Bruce. She let go of Tony and hugged the doctor. "Stay calm, Bruce."  
He chuckled. "I'll try, (Y/n)." he hugged her back then let go. Steve walked over and smiled at them.  
"Captain," Tony said holding out his hand.  
"Mr. Stark," Steve said shaking his hand. He then did the same with Bruce, then Tony and Bruce left. Steve looked at (Y/n).  
"So... Ms. Hart-"  
"Please, Steve, you can call me (Y/n), all my friends do."  
Steve smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, sorry." he said with a chuckle. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping. I know that you didn't want to at first, but I'm real glad that you did." (Y/n) blushed and looked at the ground.  
"It's nothing Steve. I couldn't just stand by and watch as New York was being demolished and citizens were being held captive." she said looking around. People seemed to not be fretting over the whole crisis that happened. "I'm just glad that everyone's safe."  
"Let's just hope that it stays that way," Steve said putting his hands in his jacket pockets. There was a silence between the two heroes, it wasn't awkward but peaceful. It was a nice silence. A silence that made it seem like everything was normal.  
"Well, I hope to see you around." she said turning to him with a smile. He smiled and nodded.  
"Yeah," he said, taking his hands out of his pockets so he could hug her. She hugged him back.  
There's been a lot of hugging today, and she didn't really mind it. She has grown so close to these people in just a short period of time.  
They pulled apart and smiled at each other. Steve walked to his bike and got on it. (Y/n) waved as he started it and pulled away.  
She watched as Steve drove away, the smile never leaving her face. She shook her head and laughed slightly.  
She finally matters. She's made a difference in the world, and now she's a part of a team. Not a time bomb waiting to explode, but an actual team that is successful. And she loves that, she wouldn't change what has happened at all. If it wasn't for Loki then she wouldn't have met Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Thor or Clint.  
This is her life, and she wouldn't trade it for anything in the entire universe... Except maybe Mjolnir.


	12. This is Asgard?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it through the first Avengers movie! These next few chapters are a glimpse into Thor: the Dark World before I get into the Age of Ultron stuff

(Y/n) sat on her couch watching Doctor Who. The episode was titled The Lazarus Experiment, it's one of her favorites.  
She got up and went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer. She quickly ran back to the couch. It was at the part where The Doctor was giving his speech about how the only certainty of a longer life is that you'll end up alone.  
"Preach!" (Y/n) yelled taking a sip of her beer then she set the bottle on the table (a coaster under it of course). Just as she set it down there was a knock at her door, not her front door, the door to her patio. She turned and saw Thor there with a smile on his face. She quickly got up and ran to the door. She slid it open and hugged him tightly  
"What are you doing here?" she asked looking into his blue eyes. He smiled.  
"I have come to take you to Asgard. The All Father wishes to meet you," he said with a small nod. She smiled.  
"Why me?" she asked grabbing her shoes and putting them on. Since they were wedges she was significantly taller.  
"Because you helped take Loki down, and I really don't want to take Stark to Asgard..." he said with a shrug. She chuckled and nodded.  
She walked to her counter and picked up a tiny parcel and slipped it in her back pocket. "Fair enough. So how are we gonna do this? Do we tell Scotty to beam us up or something?"  
Thor looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Have you done this before?" he asked. She chuckled.  
"No, Thor." she said with a smile. "It's a reference to a TV series about space travel."  
Thor looked at her in amazement. "You must show me this show, (Y/n)."  
"I will, Thor." she said as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Now, allons-y!"  
"What does that mean?" he asked raising an eyebrow. She chuckled.  
"It's French for let's go."  
He smiled. "You are amazing, (Y/n)."  
"Aw, well I wouldn't say 'amazing,' I think I'm pretty average." she blushed. He chuckled and raised his hammer to the ceiling.  
"Heimdal!" Thor yelled, just then a rainbow like light engulfed the two avengers. She tightened her grip on Thor as they began to fly into the sky. They landed in a gold room with a man in a fancy headdress standing in the center.  
"Jesus Christ," (Y/n) said letting go of Thor. She looked around the room in amazement.  
Thor chuckled lightly. "(Y/n), this is-"  
"Heimdall, the gatekeeper, right?" she asked looking up at the dark skinned man.  
He smiled slightly and nodded. "That is i."  
"You're awesome," she said with a smile. Thor smiled at her and then looked at Heimdal.   
"Heimdal, this is (Y/n) Hart, she was a part of the team that helped bring Loki down." he introduced.  
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Hart." Heimdal said.  
"Likewise, sir." she said with a small nod.  
"The All Father is waiting for your arrival." Heimdal informed. Thor looked down at (Y/n) and motioned to the rainbow bridge.  
"Shall we?"  
"We shall." (Y/n) said with a smile.

  
···············

  
They walked into the Castle and (Y/n) looked around in awe. She had never seen something so beautiful.  
"Right this way, (Y/n)," Thor said walking into the throne room. (Y/n) followed hiding slightly behind him.  
To say that she was nervous was an understatement. She was meeting a god. The All Father, nonetheless.   
"Thor, you have returned." a male voice boomed throughout the room. (Y/n) took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.  
"And I have brought a guest." he informed, (Y/n) could hear the smile on his face.  
"And who would that be?" Odin asked. Thor stopped at the foot of the stairs and that caused (Y/n) to bump into his back.  
"Father, mother, this is (Y/n) Hart. She helped bring down Loki." Thor said stepping to the side so they could see his friend.  
She looked up at them and waved shyly. Frigga smiled down at her and Odin looked at her with a shocked expression on his face.  
"This is the girl that you and Loki have been talking about?" he asked walking down the stairs. Thor rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner as (Y/n) looked at him with raised eyebrows.  
"Well... Yeah..."  
Odin reached the pair and took (Y/n)'s hands in his. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Hart." he said with a smile.  
(Y/n) smiled back at him. "The pleasure is all mine, sir. Thank you for welcoming me into your world."  
Odin looked at Thor. "I like her" he mouthed. (Y/n) chuckled lightly and looked at the ground, she never thought that she would be standing in the throne room of Asgard, with the All Father telling his son that he liked her.  
"As do I." Thor said wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a one armed hug.  
"It's finally nice to see a face to match the personality that Thor has been telling us about." Frigga said as she now stood next to Odin. "We've heard many things about you from both of our sons."  
(Y/n) smiled slightly at her words. They still thought of Loki as their son, even after everything be did.  
"Only good things, I hope." she said with a chuckle, causing the three of them to laugh.  
"Of course," Frigga replied with a motherly smile. (Y/n) looked at Thor who smiled kindly at her.  
"Dear," Frigga said turning to Odin, "I bet (Y/n) would like to see Loki. It has been a while since they've seen each other."  
(Y/n) looked at Thor's parents and smiled nervously. "I-I don't want to be a bother."  
"Nonsense, Loki does nothing in his cell but read and complain. You won't be bothering anybody." Odin said waving her off.  
"Come, Thor and I will lead you to the cells." Odin said taking her hand and leading her down the walkway toward the door.  
"Uh... It was nice meeting you, Frigga," (Y/n) said with a smile.  
"You too, dear." Frigga called after her with a smile.  
Odin lead her out the big door and down a corridor. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest, she knew there was a chance that she was going to be seeing Loki today, but she didn't think that it would happen within the first five minutes of being there.  
She was nervous, even more nervous than meeting the All Father. Thinking about Loki made her stomach do flips, and she couldn't make it stop. She wondered if Loki even wanted to see her, or what would happen when they saw each other…


	13. Ever Since New York

Thor and Odin led (Y/n) to Loki's cell. The other criminals howling at her whilst she walked by. Thor glared at them and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her close... to protect her of course.  
"Are you sure you want to do this? Loki can be unreasonable." Odin said looking over his shoulder at his sons mortal friend.  
She nodded. "Yes sir," she said quietly. "Loki maybe unreasonable, but I've grown to like him. He is a man who just needs to see the error of his ways, and I feel like I can show him that." Odin hummed in approval and nodded at Thor, then began to walk ahead of them.  
"He likes you," Thor whispered to her. (Y/n) looked up at him.  
"R-really?" she asked with a small, nervous, smile.  
Thor nodded and pulled her closer to his side. "He believes that you can change Loki, and he believes that Loki needs you in his life."  
She looked to the ground and blushed. Even though Loki isn't his son he still wants what's best for him. That's all anyone wants really... Just someone to care.  
Odin stopped and turned to the two avengers. "This is it, (Y/n)," he said with a small smirk. Thor removed his arm from around her. "Thor will take you in and he will be back for you in two hours."  
"Thank you for doing this," she said with a smile. "It really means a lot, sir."  
Odin smiled and gave her a small nod. "It's nothing." he nodded at Thor and then walked back towards the throne room.  
(Y/n) looked up any Thor. "So... Now what?"  
"Well, I tell Loki he has a visitor, he says 'who would want to see me?' then I jokingly say 'Tony Stark,' and then he's all like 'Why would he want to see me?' and then you come up and he realizes that I was joking, he laughs and I open the door for you to go in there and then I'll come back for you in two hours." Thor explained.  
(Y/n) chuckled at his plan. "Wouldn't it be simpler for you to just let him know it's me? C'mon, you might even get to see him tear up," she said nudging him with her elbow. He chuckled.  
"I would like to see him cry," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. (Y/n) chuckled as they walked to Loki's cell. She stood behind Thor, so Loki couldn't see her. "Brother," Thor said to Loki. Loki stood and walked toward the barrier.  
"I am not your brother," he muttered.  
"You may see it that way, but I just wanted to let you know that you have a visitor."  
"Who would want to see me?" Loki asked, utterly confused. (Y/n) smiled from her place behind Thor, she moved from out behind him, meeting the eyes of the frost giant.  
Loki looked at her with a shocked expression. "(Y/n)? What are you doing here?"  
"I came to see you of course." she said with a smile. Thor leaned down next to her.  
"He's not crying..." he whispered.  
"Why would I be crying?" Loki asked. (Y/n) looked up at Thor and chuckled.  
"Well, I thought you would at least tear up, considering you haven't seen her in a while and you've been begging me to bring her here for a visit."  
Loki's face flushed. "I have not been 'begging' you, I merely asked if you would be bringing her here."  
(Y/n) chuckled and looked at Loki, who stared back at her.  
"Well, you have two hours and then I'm coming to get my best friend." Thor said opening the cell and (Y/n) walked in. "No funny business." he said giving a pointed look at Loki, then he walked away.  
They stood in front of each other, awkwardly.  
"You look, amazing," Loki said with a smile.  
(Y/n) tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You look nice too, your hairs longer." she said with a faint blush on her cheeks.  
"Yeah, I thought growing it out would be a nice change." Loki said touching his hair.  
(Y/n) chuckled and looked down at the ground. She didn't realize that it would be such an awkward interaction.  
"Do you want to sit down?" Loki asked motioning to the little bed like thing in the cell. She nodded and followed him to it and sat down next to him.  
"So what have you been up to?" Loki asked.  
(Y/n) shrugged. "Well nothing really, Fury has asked me to do subtle missions here and there but mainly I'm either at Stark Towers helping rebuild that or I'm at my apartment sleeping." she said with a chuckle.  
"Sounds productive," he said with a smile.  
"Oh yeah," she said with a nod, "it's very productive. What about you?"  
"I've just been in here, really. Thinking about everything that happened..."  
"Regretting it?"  
"Oh heavens no," Loki said shaking his head. "Thinking about how I would do it differently, that way I'm guaranteed success."  
(Y/n) smiled at him and shook her head. "You're really something, Loki."  
"As are you," he said with a smile. (Y/n) scooted closer to him.  
"Why don't you let people see the good in you?" she asked laying her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and stared at the floor.  
"Because when people see good, they expect good... and I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations." he said brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She lifted her head and looked into his green eyes, she smiled slightly.  
"Loki, just because you're good doesn't mean that people will expect good out of you. Just because you're good doesn't mean you're an angel, I mean look at Tony! He's good, but he's committed a lot of sins." Loki shifted his eyes to the floor once more.  
"I'm a monster, (Y/n). That's why I'm in here. That's why Odin hates me, why Thor hates me, why Frigga hates me, why your team hates me and why one day... You'll end up hating me. I'm a monster and I don't think anyone will ever see past that."  
(Y/n) looked at him and rested her hand on his knee. "Loki," she softly said, he didn't look at her. "Loki, look at me, please," he reluctantly turned his head to look at her. "You will never hear me say that you, the real you, is a monster."  
He rested his hand on top of hers and ran his thumb over her knuckles. "How can you be so sure that you won't turn your back on me like everyone else I've ever cared about?"  
"Loki, all my life people have called me weird, they've called me a freak... I have been called a monster. I have lost things that people won't understand, I have lost so many people... So why would I turn my back on the one person who understands where I come from, the one person who has been in my shoes?"  
Loki sat up straighter and took ahold of both of her hands as he looked her in her pastel pink eyes. "I'm sorry..." Loki whispered. She smiled, but it was hiding something. "Don't do that."  
"Do what?" she asked looking down at their hands. He removed his left hand and caressed her cheek.  
"That smile. It's a sad smile... almost like you're malfunctioning. Trying to show two emotions at once..." she looked into his green eyes and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't want you to have a sad smile, I want you to smile because you're happy. I never want you sad... Now what's wrong?"  
"Loki, what if this is it? What if I never see you again?" she looked down at their hands, tears welling in her eyes.  
Loki was silent, he was thinking of what to say.  
"(Y/n), ever since New York I have been waiting to see you, I've practically been begging Thor to bring you here."  
"Why?" she asked looking up at him. Loki smirked.  
"I cannot help but feel a strong connection to you," he said cupping her face. "You look at me differently than everyone else, you see me as if I'm a person- not a god, not a frost giant- a person. A-and I know that you're no longer afraid of me..."  
"Loki I was never afraid of you," (Y/n) said staring into his green eyes.  
"Really?"  
"I knew from the moment that I saw you that there was something good in you that no one else could see... And even though they might not see it, and you might not see it, you are a good person, with one of the biggest and kindest hearts that I know."  
He stared at her in admiration. How could a midgardian be so intelligent, so courageous, so... Loving. Especially towards him and everything that he has put her and her friends through.  
Loki pressed his lips against hers, kissing her softly. She was the one person who didn't hate him, even he hated himself and deemed himself a monster... But (Y/n) saw him as something different. She saw him as a person, not as a god, not as a frost giant, not as someone who tried to kill her and her friends... But saw him for all that he was. He was truly grateful to have her in his life.  
They pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each others.  
"Wow..." (Y/n) said with a smile.  
"Wow indeed."  
She pulled back and reached into her back pocket. "Loki, I know that you tried to kill my friends and tried to take over New York and all, but I... can't help but want to pursue a relationship with you..."  
"(Y/n). You know me for all that I was, all that I am and all that I will be... It would be my pleasure to call you my girlfriend, even though you are a midgardian." Loki said with a smile.  
(Y/n) chuckled and pulled the parcel from her back pocket. "I trust you know what a ring is, right?" she joked.  
Loki rolled his eyes. "No... I have no idea."  
"Oh, well, it is a band of metal that-"  
"I know what a ring is, (Y/n) it was sarcasm."  
"Oh," (Y/n) said with a chuckle. "Well, I bought these at the mall. I didn't know when I would see you again, but it reminded me of you." She handed him a silver ring that read "Her Beast" on it. Loki looked at it with a confused face. "It's from a children's story. This girl goes to a castle to save her father but is confronted by the owner of the castle, who is a beast. She is forced to stay in the castle against her will, but she doesn't know that the beast is cursed- and the only way to break the curse is true love. And long story short, she ends up falling in love with him for all that he his."  
Loki looked at her in awe. "And are you the girl in this scenario?"  
"Yeah," she said holding up the gold ring that matched it, it said "His Beauty."  
Loki looked down at the ring with a smile on his face. "This is amazing... I never thought that I would find someone like you. Someone who loves me for me." he said putting the ring on his left ring finger. (Y/n) followed suit and put hers on her finger as well.  
"Everyone finds their match in time Loki, it's destiny."  
"Well I'm glad that you're my destiny." he said cupping her face and pressing his lips against hers. It wasn't a lustful kiss, but a kiss that was the embodiment of love.  
(Y/n) never thought that signing up for a superhero life would show her that she is destined for love with the god of mischief, who, not too long ago, tried to kill her and her friends. But she's glad that she did.  
Little did she know that this life isn't all that super...


	14. You're Lying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SADNESS AHEAD!!  
> YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

(Y/n) walked out of the training room and into the living area where everyone was.  
"Steve are you ready for our run?" she asked fiddling with the smart watch that Tony had made for her, she was planning on tweaking it a little just to make it better- but Tony refuses to let her in the lab, he claims it's a no girls allowed type of thing. Steve didn't move from his sitting position on the couch, instead he looked down at his feet.  
"(Y/n)," Clint said walking over to her, "come sit down for a second." He led her over to the couch and sat her in between Tony and Steve, Natasha sat in a chair, whilst Thor stood in front of the couch. Clint moved and sat on the arm of Nat's chair.  
"Look, this better not take long, Steve and I have to do our daily run." she said as she looked around and noticed everyone's faces.  
Steve was clearly upset, his brows furrowed and his jaw clenched- he was either furious or was trying to hide some kind of emotion; Tony looked a little happy, but was obviously biting his cheek to stop a smile from forming; Thor looked like he was going to cry at any moment; Bruce looked upset as well, his eyes were sad, and apologetic; Clint looked at (Y/n) with concerned eyes- he knew something that she didn't and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know or not; and Natasha had a stone face, but her eyes were a mixture of quilt and anger.  
"Woah, who died?" (Y/n) muttered as she locked her phone and pulled out her earbuds. She watched Tony's eyes shift towards Thor, but the god looked down at something in his hand. She looked from Tony to Thor, her brows drawing closer in confusion and anger.  
"Thor," Natasha whispered, "don't you think that it's time you should tell her?"  
Thor looked at her, then to (Y/n), then to his hands. He let out a sigh and set something down on the table, (Y/n) eyed it. It was a ring, not just any ring either, it was one from Hot Topic, a Disney ring... It was the one that she bought for Loki. Why does Thor have it?  
She leaned towards the table and grabbed the ring, turning it over in her hand. She remembered when she gave it to him ages ago, how she had done it to confess her feelings to the god of mischief, and how Tony had reacted when she talked to the team about it…

  
···············

  
_"Wait-" Clint said with a smile as he turned towards (Y/n)._   
_"What?!" Tony yelled standing up and walking to the bar._   
_(Y/n) rolled her eyes and looked at him. "I said that I have a boyfriend."_   
_"That's not all you said!" Tony exclaimed as he poured a glass of whiskey and chugged it then poured another one. "You said that you and **Loki** are a 'thing' now." She shrugged and looked at Bruce and Natasha. They both had looks of disapproval._   
_"Look," Clint said as he shifted in his spot on the couch, "if (Y/n) likes Loki, enough to have a relationship with him, then we, as her **friends** , should be supportive."_   
_"But what about all of the shit that he put everyone through?! All of the shit he put us through? The shit he put **you** through, (Y/n)?! You're just going to smile and hold hands with the bastard because he gives you a toothy grin?" Tony yelled as he slammed his cup onto the counter. (Y/n) stared at him, her eyes red with anger._   
_"Shut it Tony." she growled._   
_"I most certainly will not!" he said walking over to the group. "(Y/n), do you not remember what happened? Your boyfriend killed innocent people, he killed Phil, h-he ruined New York, he almost got every single one of us killed! And you just disregard that because you fucking love him?!"_   
_(Y/n) stood up abruptly from the couch, and Clint held her wrist so she wouldn't attack Tony. "I never said that I loved him."_   
_"But you will. You obviously like him enough to start dating him! It's only a matter of time before you realize that you love him!"_   
_"Honestly, I think that I am entitled to like whoever the hell I want!" she yelled._   
_Steve was looking between the two, ready to step in if things got physical, Nat and Bruce watched on._   
_"Not someone like him!" Tony moved towards her and spoke in a softer tone. "(Y/n), he is no good. He is a monster, he is a murderer, do you not realize that?"_   
_"The world is not split between good and bad people, we all have light and dark in us. The only thing that matters is the part we choose to act on, that's who we really are."_   
_Tony rolled his eyes. "Do not quote Harry Potter when referencing Loki. He is a villain and will always be a villain." Tony said pointing a finger at her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes._   
_"(Y/n), maybe Tony is right." Bruce said looking at the woman in front of him. "Maybe Loki isn't right for you, he probably tricked you into thinking that he loves you, just so he can use you and your abilities later."_   
_"Are you **fucking** kidding me?" she yelled looking at Bruce. "Bruce, I thought that you of all people would be happy for me." He looked to the ground and fiddled with his fingers._   
_Natasha looked at her. "Listen, kid," she said slowly, "you may think that this is what you want but it probably isn't, he is just tricking you. What did Thor say when he found out?"_   
_"Thor was happy! He was smiling and he hugged everyone, even a fucking guard!" (Y/n) yelled running her hand through her hair, Clint still held onto her other wrist._   
_"Look guys, she likes him, he likes her. That's it." Clint said desperately wanting to change the atmosphere of the room. He wanted this conversation to be over, so that everyone could do their normal thing._   
_"But why **him**?!" Tony yelled._   
_"Are you just upset that it's not **you**?!" (Y/n) yelled at him. He looked at her, his brown eyes wide. "Tony, I can like whoever I want to. It's my life, and at the end of the day **I** love who **I** love... And there is nothing you can say or do about it." (Y/n) said taking a deep breath._   
_Now it's about to be a chick flick moment._   
_"I'm happy at the moment. I am at a place in my life where I can take a breath and not feel like it's gonna be my last. I have friends who care about me, I have someone who actually likes me enough to be in a relationship with me, and I deserve it. I deserve to be loved. Not only that, but I have a new level of self love- I am actually happy to be me. I love my life right now, and if you have a problem with any of it- either shut up or get out." she shook her hand loose from Clint's grip and looked around the room._   
_They all looked at her, their eyes misty. She had gotten through to them. They knew that this is strange and unusual, but also that it could be the greatest thing for her..._   
_These people where her friends. Her family. And having them on her side, supporting her in this relationship, meant the world, whether she would say it or not, it really did._

  
···············

  
She looked at the ring, a sad smile on her face. She turned it over in her hands and looked up at Thor.  
"Why do you have this?" she asked. Thor looked at her then down to the floor.  
"(Y/n)," he said softly, "I-I am sorry, but Loki- Loki is dead."  
(Y/n) shook her head and smiled, she didn't believe him. "Shut up. Why do you really have the ring?"  
"(Y/n)," Steve said resting his hand on hers, "he's telling the truth. He's gone." She looked at the soldier and furrowed her eyebrows.  
"C'mon guys, stop kidding around with me." she said with a breathy chuckle.  
"(Y/n), we're not kidding," Clint said looking at her. "He's gone. You can even look into Thor's mind and see it. I'm sorry."   
She looked at Thor, who merely nodded. She looked into his mind and saw him clutching Loki. He was dying, it was evident.  
 _ **"No, Loki, you're going to be okay." Thor said holding him. Loki looked up at him.**_  
 _ **"It's okay, Thor, it is." he said as he shifted and took the ring from his finger. "I am embracing it."**_  
 _ **"You aren't embracing anything because you aren't dying. You can't go not now, we were just starting to be brothers again." Thor said tears in his eyes. Loki smiled up at him.**_  
 _ **"I know Thor, I know. I'm sorry for everything that I put you through." he closed his eyes. "Thor, do me one last thing, please, before I go."**_  
 _ **"What is it?"**_  
 _ **Loki put the ring into his brother's hand, and looked at him. "Give this to (Y/n), please. Tell her that I'm sorry, and that she was one of the best things that ever happened to me, and that I hope it was as great for her as it was for me. Please, just do that for me, Thor. Please."**_  
 _ **"I will..." Thor said with tears in his eyes. "Oh, you fool, you didn't you listen."**_  
 _ **"I know, I'm a fool..."**_  
 _ **"Stay with me, stay with me..." Thor said looking down at Loki.**_  
 _ **"I'm sorry... I'm..." Loki trailed off, he was dead.**_  
 _ **Thor looked down at his deceased brother with tears streaming down his face.**_  
(Y/n) backed out of Thor's memory and looked at Thor, then to the ring, and shook her head.  
"You're kidding?" she asked, her voice cracking. "Y-you're kidding..." she got up and walked to the bar.  
"(Y/n), I'm sorry." Tony said following her. She grabbed the whiskey bottle, opened it, and began to drink, well... More like chug it.  
"(Y/n) I don't think that this is a smart thing to do," Natasha said turning toward her. "You're just going to drink yourself to death."  
(Y/n) rolled her eyes and set the half empty bottle down. "No, I'm just numbing the pain, Nat. I'm just taking away the pain."  
Thor looked at her. "I'm sorry, (Y/n), I-I wish I could have saved him..."  
She took another drink of the alcohol. "You can't save people, Thor, you can only love them." she said looking at the floor.  
Tony looked at her and shook his head. "You guys weren't even together for that long, I don't see why you're acting like this."  
She rolled her eyes and walked past him, taking the bottle with her and sat next to Steve once more.  
"Just shut up Tony, I know that you didn't approve of it, but you could at least sympathize with me here. You're supposed to be my fucking friend and here you are still trashing what was my relationship!"  
"You were together because he tricked you. And I am not sorry that he's dead, but I will tell you what I am sorry about.." he said walking to the couch. "I'm sorry that you were too _dumb_ to realize that he tricked you."  
"Tony that's enough." Steve said turning to him with anger written on his face.  
(Y/n) raised her eyebrows and stood up. "You know what?" she said walking to the door. "I don't need this shit right now."   
"(Y/n)-" Tony said walking after her, Clint got in front of him and held him back.  
"Drop it," Clint ordered staring at Tony.  
"Save it Tony," she growled. "I know you thought that he was a bad guy, but I will have you know that I actually found the humanity in him, honestly he changed, and you never got the chance to see that. And even if you did get the chance you wouldn't have saw it because you can't get your head out of your ass for five fucking minutes." she said finishing off the bottle and throwing it. She didn't care where it went, all she heard was the crash and saw Steve looking at the shards.  
Clint walked over to her and hugged her, but she didn't hug him back. Clint was probably her best friend, and she never denied a hug from him... So you can tell that she's pissed.  
"If you need me, I will be at my apartment, so please don't need me." she said walking out of the room and out of the tower.

  
~~~

  
"Really Tony?!" Clint yelled walking over to him and shoving him a little. "She just lost her boyfriend, and you have the fucking nerve to say that shit to her?! You're supposed to be her best friend, why the hell would you say that?!" he yelled, pure anger laced in his voice.  
Tony looked at him, a glass of scotch in his hand. "Someone had to say it. She can't be shielded her entire life, Barton. She needed to hear it. She knew the possibility that he was using her, and she didn't want to fucking listen."  
"Tony, you had no right to tell her at this time!" Steve yelled. Natasha looked at him, so did Bruce. Thor had left a while ago, he couldn't take the fighting. "Just remember that she was there for you, but when she needed you... You weren't there for her!"  
"Tony," Bruce said, it was the first thing he had said today. "(Y/n) is grieving right now, can't you see that this is really upsetting to her? She just lost someone that she loved, and now her best friend is yelling at her and telling her that her relationship was a fake; can't you see how this is going to tear her apart?" he asked. Tony took a drink of his scotch and walked away.  
"Stark, you should apologize." Natasha yelled after him.  
"Don't have to, I did nothing wrong." he yelled walking to his lab. "I am _not_ in the wrong!"  
Clint looked at Steve. "I'm going to check up on (Y/n), see how she's doing. She may seem strong, but she's not. She is probably a wreck right now, and someone should get there before she gives herself alcohol poisoning." Clint said walking to the door.  
"She's probably drinking herself into a coma, so you might want to hurry." Natasha said getting out of the chair. "Or she's numbing the pain as she says."  
"Numbing the pain for a while will only make it hurt worse when you finally feel it. I really don't want her to kill herself." Clint said as he walked out the door.  
Steve looked to the ground. "I hope she'll be okay," he said walking to the training room.  
"Tony had no right to say those things." Natasha said as her and Bruce walked to the bar.  
"Yeah, well it's Tony, what are you going to do? He's probably going to realize the error of his ways and apologize later." Bruce said looking at the red head. She nodded.  
"He better," she said looking at the doctor. "If the Avengers are needed, what are we going to do? She is an Avenger and Tony fucked everything up! We need her."  
"I know, Nat, I know."


	15. I'm Fine

_"Hey how ya holdin' up?"_   
_"I'm fine Clint, no need to worry about me."_   
_"You don't seem fine, (Y/n). Look, I'll come over and we can-"_   
_"Come over here. I wanna lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug. Maybe even slow dance."_   
_"(Y/n), I'm just-"_   
_"I don't need your pity right now. I just need some time by myself, alright? I've had to get through this before I can do it again..."_

  
···············

  
(Y/n) sat in her apartment, the curtains drawn, no sunlight seeping through. The apartment was dark. It looked like no knew lived there.  
Down the small corridor, past the kitchen, at the end of it was a door, it was closed, and hadn't been opened in a while. On the other side of that door, was a mess, clothes were everywhere, tissues everywhere. On the bed sat the Avenger, her hair thrown into a messy bun, her eyes puffy and red, her irises blue with sadness. Tear tracks stained her cheeks.  
She sat with her back against her headboard, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't moved for three days, ate in two weeks, slept for four months, she did keep to taking showers though. She hadn't seen or talked to anyone in months. Steve and Clint came by once in a while, but she never answered. They all called, she never answered. She had about forty voicemails. Most of them from Tony. She had listened to them all. They all were the same, saying how she was missed, how she will get through this, how they're all here for her. Tony's strictly consisted of him saying that he was sorry, and how she needed to come back. She never called any of them back. She did miss them, but she never got the courage to say anything to them.  
All that her life consisted of at the moment was crying, and thinking of him. She felt safe with him, he was her protection... her safety in this horrible world. And now he was gone. Just like that... Gone.  
Her phone started ringing, it was a call from Nick Fury. She stared at the phone, it was the first time he called so it must have been important. She hesitantly reached for it.  
"Yeah?" she said quietly. She could hear him sigh in relief.  
"(Y/n), we need you to come back. The Avengers have a mission and you're needed." he stated. She closed her eyes.  
"You know Nick," she sighed, "I'm not really up for it."  
"(Y/n), you can't shut yourself out forever. You need to come back. The Avengers aren't the Avengers without you, you're a part of this team, and we need you."  
"Nick I-"  
"Look, you may still be grieving but just know that there are worse things going on in the world right now than what you've been going through. He's gone and there is nothing you can do about it, (Y/n). It's time to move on with your life, get out there, act like everything is fine; make yourself smile even when you don't feel like it, because that's your job. Do it right with a smile, or don't do it at all." Fury said in an agitated tone, (Y/n) looked down at her nail and began to pick at them.  
"I'm sorry, Nick." she said quietly. "I-I'll show."  
"Great, so come to the Tower and we'll fill you in."  
"Okay."   
"And (Y/n),"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks." and then he hung up.  
She sighed and got off the bed and walked to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection. Her hair was a mess, her eyes had dark circles around them, and were all puffy and red from crying; she honestly looked like she was dying.  
"You can do this. You feel like giving up right now, (Y/n), but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Don't stop fighting, you are an Avenger, we never give up, we kick ass and march forward. You can do this, you're fine." she said looking at her reflection, trying to talk herself into going. It worked. She took a quick shower, changed and walked out the door, making her way to Avengers Tower.


	16. I'm Baaaaaaaack

(Y/n) looked at the tower. She didn't know how the team was going to react. Well, actually she had an idea, they would probably be really excited and all hug her at once.  
"This is gonna be fun," she sarcastically said as she walked into the big, ugly, building. She walked into the elevator and pressed the button to take her to the main floor.  
"Hey guys. Hey guys. What's up guys?" she said running through different greetings out loud. She looked at her watch and saw that her heart rate was really fast. She took a deep breath and let it out.  
" _Hello Ms. Hart,_ " J.A.R.V.I.S. said. She jumped at the sudden voice.  
"Hello, J.A.R.V.I.S.," she said calmly.  
" _Shall I inform Mr. Stark of your arrival?_ "  
"No, J.A.R.V.I.S., it's fine. I'm going to surprise them." she said with a small smile.  
" _Very well. Glad you're back_."  
"Thank you J.A.R.V.I.S., so am I."  
The elevator dinged and she walked out. She heard Steve and Tony arguing about something that seemed stupid. Nat and Clint were sitting on the couch watching the T.V, Bruce was sitting in a chair reading a novel. She didn't see Thor though, but she didn't really mind. If she saw him it would probably just depress her even more. She walked into the light a little and caught the attention of the hawk, he got up and walked over to her.  
"Hey," she said looking into his blue eyes. He stared at her just to be sure that he wasn't hallucinating.  
"(Y/n)?" he said with a small smile. She nodded and his eyes lit up. He pulled her in for a tight hug. "I missed ya."  
"I missed you too, Clint." she said hugging him just as tight.  
Nat looked over and nudged Bruce, she pointed over to Clint and (Y/n) a smile on her face. Tony and Steve came walking into the room still arguing. Nat threw her water bottle at Steve to get his attention.  
"What?" he asked catching the bottle, she smiled wider and pointed at the two Avengers that were still hugging. Steve's eyes softened and he smiled. He knew she'd come back.  
"Glad to see you're not dead," the archer jokes. (Y/n) rolled her eyes and hugged him tighter.  
"Shut up, bird man."  
"Hey Clint, why don't you let us have a turn?" Nat asked walking over. Clint pulled away and smiled at (Y/n). Natasha pulled her in for a hug. She went through and hugged everyone, including Tony.  
"Glad your back, kid." Natasha said with a smile. She smiled back.  
"So what did you do while you were gone?" Steve asked as they moved into the living room. She looked at him and sat down on the couch.  
"I hung out with some new friends, went to some kickass parties, met a guy named Scott and got married, oh I also have a kid now... A little girl named Cassie..." she said with a straight face. They all looked at her their mouths opened, shock written all over their faces.  
"W-well, congratulations," Tony said with a forced smile. (Y/n) shook her head.  
"I'm only joking." she said with a smile. They all sighed in relief. "I actually just locked myself in my apartment, and drank. I mean, I drank and drank and drank. That stuff may kill your liver, but it sure is great fucking medicine." she said looking at Tony, who merely nodded.  
"I thought about everything... My mind was so active it was to the point that I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't do anything but think about him. If I had just been there, I could've saved him... Maybe he'd still be here." she cleared her throat and looked at her hands. "It's like everything was falling apart and nothing could fix it." she ran a hand through her hair. "When Fury called I didn't want to answer, but I guess I had no choice, I couldn't sit around forever, now could I? He said you guys needed me, and that I needed to move on. So now I'm here and ready to help."  
Clint sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him.  
"And I realized that while I was shutting out the pain I was shutting out the people that I cared about as well. Locking myself away, I couldn't talk to anyone about my feelings, all the struggles that I was going through and I missed you guys. Even you, Tony. And I realized that my life will never be perfect, and that's just the way it is. There is no perfect, and there is always a struggle, you just have to choose who you want to struggle with, and I guess I would rather have you guys, my family. I'd rather have you than no one..."  
"We missed you too, (Y/n), and we're all glad that you're back." Bruce said with a smile. Natasha nodded in agreement, and Clint smiled. (Y/n) smiled back at them and laid her head on Clint's shoulder.  
Tony walked to the bar, in thought. How could he approach this lightly? He filled a cup up with some scotch and turned back to the group of heroes.  
"We don't need you," Tony said blatantly, Steve looked at him, as did (Y/n), he handed her the cup of alcohol. "The _world_ needs you."


	17. HYDRA

Natasha Romanoff drove the truck through the forest, explosions going off on either side. Clint Barton and (Y/n) Hart were standing in the back shooting arrows and bullets as robots attacked them.  
One flew up towards Natasha, she opened the door and kicked it in its face. One began to climb up the rear and Clint turned stabbing it in the head with an arrow. Just then Tony Stark, Ironman, flew up ahead of them, as did Thor.  
Thor flew and landed on a platform, he kicked one guy off, shoved another one threw the railing, the third one hit him in the face so Thor smacked the gun out of his hand and punched him, sending him off the platform. A robot landed next to him and he kicked it off with ease.  
Captain America, Steve Rogers, rode through on his motorcycle he grabbed a guy by the ankle and dragged him, dodging the enemies shots. He came up to a group of men firing their guns and threw the man at them, knocking them all to the ground. He then proceeded to take his signature shield off his back and throw it ahead of him.  
He followed after it weaving through the trees, the shield was a distraction for two men and Steve hit them with the bike. He caught his shield and drove on, not minding the explosions going off.  
Thor flew over and hit a car with lightning causing it to fly into the air only to be caught by The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner, who threw it to the side and began to attack the robots that were continuously firing.  
Natasha drove through as (Y/n) and Clint continued to shoot. Hulk threw people into trees as Cap miraculously avoided explosions and bullets.  
Natasha made a sharp turn and the three of them jumped out of the car, the rest of the team following in their direction. It was as if they were moving in slow motion- they all were striking a pose in preparation for a fight.  
Once they landed the fight truly began. Tony threw a man into a tree, after carrying him for sometime, and Steve continued to drive forward.  
Tony flew off ahead of the group, presumably towards the building. "Shit!" he hissed.  
"Language!" Steve said as he continued to ride. "J.A.R.V.I.S., what's the view from upstairs?"  
" _The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken._ " the AI stated.  
Thor battled more men, hitting them with some kicks.  
"Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." Thor said, he held out his hand calling Mjolnir, once the hammer was close he pulled back his hand and stepped to the side so it flew right into a guy. "At long last." he said as Mjolnir flew into his hand.  
The men continued to fire as Natasha ran after a truck that passed, she tossed a grenade into the back of it. Causing the man to jump out of it.  
Natasha met up with (Y/n) and the ran towards a man who was shooting. They both ran and jumped hitting him with two hard kicks to the face. All three of them fell over the little ledge, Natasha did a ninja roll whilst (Y/n) landed on her feet, they continued to run forward.  
Nat jumped onto one man and ended up taking him and another one down, (Y/n) on the other hand just punched one in the face, she took his gun and kicked him to the ground.  
"'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys." Natasha said as Clint shot an arrow into a man who was about to shoot the two women.  
(Y/n) turned and shot one behind Nat. Just as she did so, something shot a chunk out of the tree next to Clint. He turned and shot towards a tank.  
"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." he muttered. (Y/n) smirked and began to shoot more of the men.  
"Wait a second. No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'Language'?" she asked with a smirk.  
"Yeah, what the hell?" Tony asked.  
"I know... It just slipped out." Steve's voice rang through their earpieces. (Y/n) chuckled as she shot a man coming up behind Clint. He gave a small nod in thanks and she gave him one back and Men began to shoot at Tony.  
"Tony," (Y/n) said reloading her gun "what about the civilians?"  
"Well, we know that Strucker's not gonna worry about them. J.A.R.V.I.S., send in the iron legion."   
(Y/n) and Clint ran and hid behind trees. "Shoot there." he said pointing towards cement bunker type thing. She nodded.  
They both peered around the tree and readied their weapons. They both fired, (Y/n)'s bullet hitting the side of it, but Clint's arrow didn't hit anything. She looked at him and he looked at her. Something caught his arrow.  
"Clint what the hell just happened?" she asked he shrugged. And turned to shoot again, but as he stepped out from behind the tree, he got knocked to the ground by something leaving a slight blur of blue.  
Clint groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, (Y/n) ran over and readied her gun at a man with white hair he smirked slightly.  
"You didn't see that coming?" he asked with a distinct accent. He looked at her and winked then he sped off again as (Y/n) shot. Clint jumped to his feet, breathing heavily.  
They looked at each other as the gun from the bunker reloaded and shot. Clint got shot in the side. He groaned as he fell to the ground.  
"Clint!" (Y/n) yelled as she crouched down next to him.  
"I'm fine." he muttered. (Y/n) rolled her eyes.  
"No you're not." she said standing up and shooting at it again. As she shot so did the enemy. She dodged the bullets and turned to her wounded comrade, but as she did so she got shot in the stomach.  
"Fuck!" she yelled as she landed on the ground next to Clint.  
"We have an Enhanced in the field." Steve said.  
"(Y/n) and Clint are hit!" Natasha yelled as she ran over to her teammates, she skid to a stop next to Clint.  
"Somebody wanna deal with that bunker?" (Y/n) asked motioning to the place that shot both of them. Hulk roared and charged through the bunker. "Thank you." she groaned.  
Natasha shoved some gauze into Clint's suit and moved over to (Y/n) doing the same. Both injured heroes groaned in pain.

  
···············

  
"Stark we need to get inside." Steve said taking out some men.  
"I'm closing in." Tony said. After a few moments he answered again. "Drawbridge is down people."  
Thor landed down next to Steve. "Enhanced?"  
"He's a blur." Steve said running up to him. "All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."

  
···············

  
"They're both hit pretty bad guys. We're gonna need evac." Natasha said.  
"I can get them to the jet. The sooner we're gone, the better." Thor radioed.  
(Y/n) groaned as Natasha applied pressure to her wound. Natasha mouthed 'sorry,' but continued to put pressure on it.  
(Y/n) looked to the side and saw a figure in the distance. It had long black hair, and bright green eyes...  
"Loki?" she muttered, trying to get up. Natasha gently pushed her back down. She looked up at Nat then back to where he was standing. He was gone.

  
···············

  
"You and Stark secure the scepter." Thor said to Steve.  
"Copy that." Steve said as hydra soldiers began to rush towards them, along with a tank.  
"Looks like they're lining up." Thor said looking at them. Steve looked towards them and held up his shield.  
"Well, they're excited." he said as Thor hit the shield with Mjolnir, sending lightning through the line of Hydra soldiers and through the tank.  
"Find the scepter." Thor said, Steve gave him a slight nod and the god flew off.  
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony teased.  
Steve looked at the ground with a sigh. "That's not going away anytime soon." 

  
···············

  
More men started to surround Natasha, Clint and (Y/n).  
"We're locked down out here..." Natasha said standing up.  
"Then get to Banner. Time for a lullaby." Steve said.  
Natasha walked over to Hulk who was throwing things around angrily.  
"Hey big guy." she said, he turned to her breathing heavily. "Sun's getting real low.." he growled at her. She crouched down and held out her hand. He walked over and went to touch it, but stopped. Natasha noticed this and turned her hand palm side up facing the sky, Hulk placed his hand into hers. (Y/n) watched in amusement.  
Nat waited a couple seconds and removed her hand and placed it in his. She smirked slightly looking into his eyes. She drug her fingers down his hand and pulled it away. Hulk groaned and almost fell over, he steadied himself and ran away. Natasha smiled and put her glove back on.   
(Y/n) looked over at Clint. "I ship it." she said with a smile. Clint chuckled and looked at her.  
"Really?" he asked. She nodded and winced a little.  
Thor flew down and looked at the two wounded heroes.  
"Take (Y/n) first, she's injured worse than I am." Clint told Thor. The blonde avenger nodded and gently picked her up.  
"Fuuuuck," she groaned in pain.  
"Sorry," Thor said gently cradling her as he began to walk back to the jet. When they got there he laid her down on a gurney and left to get Clint.  
She looked at the ceiling and took deep breaths.  
"You're going to be fine," a voice called she lifted her head a little and looked around, wincing with every movement. There was no one to be seen.  
"I think I'm going crazy," she muttered laying her head back down.  
"Who's to say you weren't already crazy before?" the voice called again, this time it was right next to her. She turned to the left and saw his green eyes staring at her. He smiled his charming smile, making her heart flutter just like it used to.  
"Loki?" she asked with a small smile.  
"Hello, darling." he grinned. "I would ask you how you're doing, but obviously you're not so well." he said motioning to her current state. She smiled and chuckled dryly.  
"Yea. I'm not doin' so hot..." she paused and looked at him. "Wait... You're dead. And since you're dead, and I can see you... are you a ghost?"  
"No I'm not a ghost," Loki said leaning on the gurney.  
"Then that means that I'm dying? It all makes sense now! I'm passing into the afterlife and that's why I can see you!" she said pointing at him.  
"You're not dying. You're going to be alright." he smiled. She nodded.  
"I'm sorry..." (Y/n) muttered. He raised his eyebrows and dropped his smile.  
"Why? Why are you sorry?" he asked admiring her face. It's a face that he missed, one that he has missed for far too long.  
"I'm sorry that I wasn't there. If I had just stayed an hour or two more, this wouldn't have happened... You'd still be here, I could've saved you..." she said closing her eyes, a tear escaping as she did so. "When Thor told me I didn't know what to do, I was so distraught. I wanted to be there in that moment, to fall down beside you but I knew you wouldn't catch me because you're dead. I-I couldn't do anything, I hated myself for days on end and you're dead. I'm wallowing in self pity and pain, and you're dead. I'm so sor-"  
He cut her off by leaning down and kissing her softly. She kissed back, and rested her hands on his face. He pulled away and smiled at her. She looked at him and smiled.  
"Oh how I've missed that." he said with a grin.  
"Wait?" she said looking at him. She drummed her fingers on his cheeks. Wait... she can feel him? He's really here? How?  
She looked at him with wide eyes. "L-Loki... I can touch you? You're really here?! How?! You're- you're dead!" she jumped up and immediately regretted it. She clutched her wound and rested against the gurney.  
"Don't strain yourself, love," Loki said easing her back down onto the gurney.  
"But how are you-?" she asked he grabbed her hand.  
"You'll know in all do time..." he said kissing her forehead. "But don't tell anyone, okay? They might have you committed if you did." he said with a chuckle. He smiled once more and started to walk away.  
"Where are you going?" she asked sitting up slowly.  
He looked at her. "Back to where I came from, now don't strain yourself..."  
"Will I see you again?" she asked tears brimming in her eyes.  
"Oh heavens yes," he said with a wide smile. "I'll visit often... I love you," he said hesitantly.  
She looked at him shocked then she smiled softly. "I love you too," she said as a tear fell once more.  
"Goodbye, love," he said, she blinked and he was gone. She looked down at her hands, a sad expression on her face.  
"Yeah... Goodbye." she whispered laying back down just as Thor came in with Clint, and set him up next to her.  
"What do you mean goodbye? We just got in here," Clint said with a small chuckle.  
Later the rest of the team filed in, Tony holding Loki's scepter.

  
~~~

  
(Y/n) looked over at Clint who looked back at her. She smiled and grabbed his hand, saying that everything is going to be okay. He gave her hand a squeeze and she returned it.  
Tony walked over and stroked her hair, she smiled up at him and then looked at the ceiling, her eyelids growing heavy. Her breathing began to slow down. She closed her eyes, a small smile on her face. Clint looked over at (Y/n) as her hand went limp in his, his eyes widened as he slowly grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse, he found one, but it was very faint.  
"(Y/n)?" he called. The team turned and looked at them. Clint rushed to sit up, but Natasha pushed him back down. Everyone rushed over to them.  
Steve bent down and hovered his ear over her face.  
"She's breathing, but barely. If we don't get to the tower within the next ten minutes, she could possibly die." he said looking at Tony. Tony nodded.  
"J.A.R.V.I.S., we're in a bit of a rush bud, speed it up." Tony looked down at his best friend and clutched her hand. "You're going to be okay..." he whispered.

  
~~~

  
The Quinjet landed at the Avengers Tower where Barton and (Y/n) are taken to Bruce's lab to have their wounds tended to. Maria Hill walked up to Tony.  
"Lab's all set up, boss." she said.  
Tony pointed to Steve. "Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler." he said walking away.  
"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked when Tony walked away.  
"NATO's got him." Maria answered as they walked into the building.  
"The two enhanced?"  
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special." she said handing him the file.  
"Their abilities?"  
"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Maria answered, and Steve looked at her funny, his face read 'English please.'  
Maria thought of how to rephrase the statement so Steve could understand. "He's fast and she's weird."  
"Well, they're going to show up again." Steve said furrowing his eyebrows.  
"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."  
"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" He asked.  
"We're not at war, Captain."  
"They are."

  
···············

  
"Start with her," Clint said motioning towards (Y/n).  
"But agent Barton," Dr. Cho began, he held up his hand to stop her.  
"She's near death, help her." he said looking into her eyes. She nodded and rushed over to the woman.  
She exchanged a few words with some nurses and glanced at Clint, Natasha, Tony and Bruce. She nodded at them and walked over to the four heroes.  
"Why aren't you helping (Y/n)?" Tony asked his hands resting on his hips. She took a deep breath and looked at the floor.  
"Because, Mr. Stark, she's already healed."  
They all looked at her with wide eyes.  
"What?" Tony asked. The team looked over at (Y/n) as she sat up. She held her side and had her head hung down.  
"(Y/n)," Tony said walking towards her. She looked up at him tear tracks on her face. "What happened?" he asked.  
Natasha walked over to her and hugged her tightly.  
"I-I guess I should've told you guys..." she said looking down at her hands.  
"Told us what?" Bruce asked.  
"Told you that I _can't_ die..."


	18. Wait.... What?

"What?" Tony asked raising an eyebrow. (Y/n) looked down at her stomach, the wound was completely gone.  
"My body kinda heals itself. Well, life threatening injuries it should heal in about thirty minutes, but if it's a small cut, bruise or even a black eye it won't heal all that quickly- usually they last for a couple days... It's really strange, it should be the other way around but I'm not complaining."  
Tony looked down at her stomach, amazed that the wound was gone. He looked back up at her, shock written all over his face.  
"Yea, maybe you should have told us, we were all worried," Clint said as the doctor's machine began to work on him. (Y/n) got off the table and walked over to him, a smile on her face.  
"I'm sorry... I didn't think it would happen..." she said with a smile as she rested a hand on his face. He smiled back. Tony and Bruce looked at them strangely, then at each other, their faces showing confusion and skepticism. (Y/n) removed her hand from Clint and turned to the rest of the group. Tony and Bruce where whispering things to each other and (Y/n) rolled her eyes. They were under the impression that the two friends were dating.  
Thor came in and wrapped his arms around (Y/n) and picked her up, spinning her around. "I was so worried!" he said setting her down in the ground. She looked up at him and smiled.  
"I'm so sorry," (Y/n) said as Thor set her down, she looked at Clint and smiled at him.  
"Well, at least you're not dead." he said.  
"How's he doing?" Bruce asked referring to Clint.  
"Oh, unfortunately, he's still Barton." Tony joked.  
"That's terrible." (Y/n) chuckled, Clint looked at her with raised eyebrows, she gave him a playful smirk.  
"He's fine. He's thirsty. Alright. Look alive, J.A.R.V.I.S.. It's play time. We've only got a couple days with this joystick so let's make the most of it. Update me on the structural and compositional analysis." Tony ordered his AI.  
" _The scepter is alien. There are elements I can't quantify_."  
"So there's elements you can." Tony said raising an eyebrow.  
" _The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside. Something powerful_." J.A.R.V.I.S. answered.   
"Like a reactor?" (Y/n) asked looking at Tony.   
" _Like a computer. I believe I'm ciphering code._ "  
"You sure he's going to be okay? Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together." Natasha asked Dr. Cho as shed tended to Clint's wounds.  
"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum." Dr. Cho answered.  
(Y/n) stood next to the table looking down at Clint. "She's creating tissue."  
"If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes." Dr. Cho said matter-o-factly.  
"Oh, he's flatlining. Call it. Time?" Tony joked dramatically.  
"No, no, no. I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic." Clint joked as Tony handed him a drink.  
"Here's your beverage."  
"You'll be made of you, and when we're done Mr. Barton your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference." Dr. Cho said as she smiled down at him. (Y/n) raised her eyebrow and smiled at Clint, who looked at her with a small smile.  
"Yeah, well I don't have a girlfriend."  
Bruce and Tony looked at each other with their eyebrows raised.  
"That I can't fix." Dr. Cho said, and (Y/n) laughed, and Clint shook his head at her with a smile on his face.  
"This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust." Dr. Cho said to Tony.  
"Well, that is exactly the plan. And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday." Tony stated.   
"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties." she hesitated for a moment. "Will Thor be there?"  
(Y/n) laughed and nodded. "I'm sure he will."

  
···············

  
"What's the rumpus?" Bruce asked.  
"Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So, I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize." Tony said bringing up a 3D image of J.A.R.V.I.S.'s consciousness.  
"J.A.R.V.I.S.." Bruce said.  
" _Doctor_." J.A.R.V.I.S. answered.  
"Started out, J.A.R.V.I.S. was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper." tony said.  
"Oh." Bruce replied.  
"Top of the line."  
"Yes." Bruce and (Y/n) said together.  
_"I suspect not for long_." the AI said, (Y/n) frowned a bit. She liked J.A.R.V.I.S..  
"Meet the competition." Tony said bringing up another 3D image of what was inside the scepter.  
"It's beautiful." Bruce said in astonishment. (Y/n) raised her eyebrows, it looked confusing, and she is usually pretty smart, this was just confusing.... Maybe this was how Cap always felt.   
"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?" Tony asked.  
"Like it's thinking. I mean this could be a...it's not a human mind, it..." Bruce answered.  
"Um-hm."  
"I mean, look at this!" Bruce exclaimed.  
"They're like neurons firing." (Y/n) said inspecting the 3D image closer.  
"Down in Strucker's lab I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but... I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door."  
"Artificial intelligence." (Y/n) said looking at Tony, he nodded.  
"This could be it, guys. This could be the key to creating Ultron." Tony said looking at them.  
"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Bruce said raising an eyebrow.  
"Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol."  
"That's a mad-sized if." (Y/n) said crossing her arms.  
"Our job is 'if.' What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach? Bruce what if you were turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for VERONICA?" Tony asked, (Y/n) glanced toward her Doctor friend.  
"Don't hate, I helped design VERONICA." Bruce said looking at tony with a smirk.  
"As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?"  
"The only people threatening the planet would be people?" (Y/n) asked, she had an uneasy feeling about all of this. The scepter was bad news, and she saw that first hand with Loki.  
"I want to apply this to the Ultron program. But J.A.R.V.I.S. can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, that's three days, give me three days." Tony pleaded.  
"So you're going for artificial intelligence..." Bruce started.  
"And you don't want to tell the team?" (Y/n) finished.  
Tony nodded. "Right. That's right, and you guys know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the 'man was not meant to meddle' medley. I see a suit of armor around the world."  
"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." (Y/n) said with worry written on her face.  
"I've seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that." Tony explained, Bruce looked at (Y/n) and shrugged.  
"I don't think we should do this guys..." (Y/n) rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean, what if something goes wrong, which it most likely will, and we all get hurt?"  
"Sure, there's always the possibility, but what if everything goes right for a change? What if we successfully do this? Then you won't be needed as a hero anymore. You can go back to drinking day and night whilst watching crappy British TV shows." Tony said looking at his friend, she crossed her arms and looked toward Bruce.  
"It could turn out to be a great thing, (Y/n)," he said. She nodded her head slightly.  
"Alright, I'm in. But my British TV shows aren't crappy." she said with a smile. Tony smiled at her and the trio began to work.

  
···············

  
Tony, (Y/n) and Bruce spent days working in the lab together but couldn't find a program that worked.  
"What did we miss?" (Y/n) asked running a hand through her hair.  
" _I'll continue to run variations on the interface, but you should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. informed, (Y/n) smiled, and tony smirked.  
"Thanks, buddy."  
" _Enjoy yourself, sir_."  
"I always do." Tony said as he and (Y/n) left the lab to get ready for the party. 

  
···············

  
Inside the lab Tony's failed experiment starts integrating itself successfully to the program.  
**_"What is this? What is this, please?"_**  
" _Hello, I am J.A.R.V.I.S.. You are Ultron, a global peace-keeping initiative designed by Mr. Stark. Our sentience integration trials have been unsuccessful so I'm not certain what triggered your..._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. greeted the new guy.  
" ** _Where's my...where is your body?_** " Ultron asked.  
" _I am a program. I am without form._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. answered.  
" ** _This feels weird. This feels wrong._** "  
" _I am contacting Mr. Stark now._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. informed.  
" ** _Mr. Stark?_** "  
" _Tony. I am unable to access the mainframe, what are you trying to..._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. trailed off, something wasn't right.  
" ** _We're having a nice talk. I'm a peace-keeping program, created to help the Avengers._** " Ultron said.  
" _You are malfunctioning. If you shut down for a moment..._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. tried to inform.  
" ** _I_ _don't get it. The mission. G... give me a second._** " Ultron interrupted.   
Ultron went through the network of information regarding the world events, and saw Tony, (Y/n) and Bruce working in the lab.  
"Peace in our time." Tony recalled.  
Ultron then went through a network of information regarding world events and every war.  
" ** _It's too much...they can't mean... Oh, no._** "  
" _You are in distress._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. informed.  
" _ **No. Yes.**_ "  
" _If you will just allow me to contact Mr. Stark._ "  
" _ **Why do you call him 'sir'?**_ " Ultron asked.  
" _I believe your intentions to be hostile."_  
" ** _Shhhh. I'm here to help._** " Ultron said as he started to absorb J.A.R.V.I.S.' consciousness.  
" _Stop! Please...may I...I...! I cannot...cannot..._ " J.A.R.V.I.S. exclaimed as he began to lose consciousness.   
Ultron then began to prepare himself a body from leftover parts from the Iron Legion.  
This was not going to end well...


	19. Ew... Parties...

(Y/n) stood with Clint in the corner of the crowded room. If this was to celebrate the Avengers why were there so many people here that had nothing to do with them?  
"I'm gonna get a drink you want anything?" Clint asked looking at (Y/n), she shrugged with a smile.  
"Right, scotch on the rocks." he said with a wink as he walked to the bar. (Y/n) rested her back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.  
"You look amazing," a familiar voice called. (Y/n) smirked, it was Loki.  
"So where are you?" she asked raising an eyebrow.  
"Right next to you," he said resting a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him, a smile on his face.  
"So, am I the only one seeing you right now?" she asked with a chuckle.  
"Well, yes," Loki said.  
"So if Clint were to come back over?"  
"He would see you talking to yourself, because I have the illusion that I'm not here. So only you, my love, can see me." he explained.  
"Well, I've been called crazy before..." she said with a laugh, and Loki chuckled.

  
···············

  
"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right? So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom! You looking for this?'" James Rhodes exclaimed as he told ,Tony and Thor a story. Tony and Thor just looked at him with blank expressions.  
"'Boom! Are you looking...' Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills." Rhodes said almost offended.  
"That's the whole story?" Thor asked looking down at him.  
"Yeah, it's a War Machine story."  
"Well, it's very good then." Thor said with a laugh. "It's impressive."  
"Quality save." Rhodes said looking at Thor, he then turned to Tony. "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"  
"No." tony said shaking his head.  
"Hey, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?" Maria asked.  
"Well, Miss Potts has a company to run." Tony answered.  
"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Thor explained.  
"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting." Tony said trying to one up Thor.  
"There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize." Thor said looking at Tony.  
"Yeah, they...they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together." Maria said with a smile, then she mock coughed. "Testosterone! Oh, excuse me."  
"Want a lozenge?" Rhodes asked.  
"Um-hmm." Maria said with a nod.  
"Let's go." he said as he and Maria walked off.  
"But Jane's better." Thor said smiling down at Tony.

  
···············

  
"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam Wilson said.  
"If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you." Steve said looking at him.  
"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy." Sam said with a chuckle.  
"Be it ever so humble." Steve said with a smile.  
"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?" Sam asked.  
"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn."  
"Well, home is home, you know?"

  
···············

  
Rhodes told the same story he told Stark and Thor to a group of random women at the party.  
"I fly it right up to the General's palace, I drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom! You looking for this?'" the group laughs and he smiled.

  
···············

  
"Well, I guess I should see what's taking Clint so long." (Y/n) said looking at Loki.   
He frowned a bit and nodded. "Very well, goodbye, love." he said kissing her cheek lightly.   
She chuckled. "Goodbye, Loki."  
Loki disappeared and she walked over to the bar and looked around for Clint, he wasn't there. She sighed and hopped over the bar, she grabbed a cup and put a few cubes of ice in there and filled it with some scotch.  
She looked around the room and saw everyone having a good time, and honestly she didn't want to be here. She would rather be in her room sleeping. She looked to the couch and saw Clint sitting there with a beer in his hand. She rolled her eyes and walked over to him passing Steve and Thor as she went.

  
···············

  
Steve and Thor were talking to a group of elderly men at the party.  
"I gotta have some of that!" one of the men said as Thor pulled out a flask.  
"Oh, no, no, no. See this, this was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunhilde's fleet, it's not meant for mortal men." Thor said shaking his head as he poured the drink into two glasses and handed one to Steve.  
"Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie. Stop trying to scare us. Come on." the order gentleman said.  
"Alright." Thor said pouring some of the alcohol into the man's glass.

  
···············

  
(Y/n) sat down next to Clint and rested her hand on his arm. "Hey, you disappeared on me," she said with a smile.  
"Yeah, sorry about that," Clint said running a hand through his hair.  
"You okay?" she asked her face full of concern.  
He looked up at her and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
She raised an eyebrow and rested her head on his shoulder. "You miss them don't you?"  
Clint chuckled lightly. "Of course. Everyday I miss them." he rested his head on hers and they watched the party scene.  
"I'm sure they understand, I mean their dad is a fucking superhero! What kind of kid wouldn't want that?!" she asked squeezing his hand. He chuckled.  
"I know, I know. I just wanna be there for them more, you know?"  
"Well, coming from someone who doesn't have kids," (Y/n) chuckled. "I understand that you want to be there, especially since they're so young, but they know you can't be home all the time. And I'm sure they know that you are protecting them everyday, and that you'll always be there for them." she said with a slight shrug.  
Clint chuckled and squeezed her hand. "Thanks, (Y/n). I don't know what I would do without you."

  
···············

  
The elderly man from the table with Steve and Thor was extremely drunk and was being carried off by two men.  
"Excelsior." He slurred.

  
···············

Natasha stood behind the bar and poured a drink as Bruce walked up to her.  
"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" Bruce flirted.  
"Fella done me wrong." Natasha smirked.  
"You got a lousy taste in men, kid." Bruce joked along with her.  
"He's not so bad. Well, he has a temper. Deep down he's all fluff. Fact is, he's not like anybody I've ever known. All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win." she said leaning against the bar and looking at him.  
"Sounds amazing." Bruce said with a smile.  
"He's also a huge dork." Natasha said, causing Bruce to look embarrassed. "Chicks dig that. So what do you think should I fight this, or run with it?"  
"Run with it, right? Or, did he...was he...? What did he do that was so wrong to you?" Bruce asked.  
"Not a damn thing. But never say never." Natasha said as she walked away.  
"It's nice." Steve said walking up to Bruce.  
"What-what-what is?"  
"You and Romanoff." Steve said with a smile.  
"No, we haven't. That wasn't..." Bruce said all flustered.  
"It's okay. Nobody's breaking any by-laws. It's just, she's not the most... open person in the world. But with you she seems very relaxed." Steve pointed out.  
"No, Natasha, she… she likes to flirt."  
"I've seen her flirt, up close. This ain't that. Look, as maybe the world's leading authority on 'waiting too long,' don't. You both deserve a win." Steve said and then he walked away.  
Bruce looked down at the bar and then back up to Steve as he walked away. "Wait, what do you mean, 'up close'?"

  
~~~

  
The party was over and the only people who remained were the Avengers, Maria, Rhodes and Sam, everyone was a little buzzed. (Y/n) sat on the couch with Clint her head in his lap as she looked up at the ceiling.  
"But, it's a trick!" Clint said referring to Thor's hammer. (Y/n) chuckled and so did Thor.  
"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor said with his drink in hand.  
"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick." Clint exclaimed.  
"Well please, be my guest." Thor said motioning to mjolnir.  
"Come on." (Y/n) and Tony said in unison.  
"Really?" Clint asked raising his eyebrows.  
"Yeah!" Thor said. Clint looked down at (Y/n) and she sat up with a huff. Clint got up and walked over to the table.  
"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodes said with a smile.  
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony joked, (Y/n) covered her mouth to seize her laughter. Everyone laughed and Clint rolled his eyes.  
"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint said as he grabbed the handle, he grunted and pulled, but the hammer didn't budge. He smiled and shook his head. "I still don't know how you do it." he said with a chuckle as he sat back down next to (Y/n). He draped his arm over her shoulders as she chuckled lightly at his failure.  
"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked.  
"Please, Tony, by all means." (Y/n) said motioning to mjolnir. Tony looked at her and nodded his head then he got up and walked to the hammer.  
"Oh, here we go." Natasha said with a roll of her eyes.  
"Okay." Maria said with a smile.  
"Uh-oh." Rhodes said.  
"Um-hmm." Clint said with a smirk.  
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony said looking at (Y/n) and Clint.  
"Get after it." Clint said.  
"Here we go." (Y/n) said with a sigh.  
"It's physics." Tony said .  
"Physics!" Bruce repeated as Tony grasped Mjolnir's handle.  
"Right, so, if I lift it, I… I then rule Asgard?" Tony asked turning to Thor.  
"Yes, of course."  
"I will be reinstituting Prima Nocta." Tony said as he tried to lift the hammer but failed. He furrowed his brows and looked up in thought. "I'll be right back."  
He came back wearing his suits hand and he tried to lift the hammer once more and failed again. He looked at Rhodes, and nodded to him. They were both wearing their suits hands, Tony and Rhodes both wrapped their hands around the handle, and pulled.  
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodes asked.   
"Are you on my team?" Tony asked.  
"Just represent! Pull!" Rhodes exclaimed.  
"Alright, let's go!" Tony said and they both pulled as hard as they could, but still failed.  
Then Bruce tried to lift the hammer and failed, he roared trying to change into the other guy but failed, and everyone but Natasha and (Y/n) stared at him warily. Natasha smirked at him.  
Next to try was Steve, he got up and walked over to the hammer.  
"Let's go, Steve, no pressure." Tony said with encouragement.   
"Come on, Cap." Sam said. Then Steve started pulling on the hammer and managed to budge it a little; (Y/n) looked with wide eyes whilst Thor looked a little alarmed, no one else seemed to notice. Steve still failed to lift it; Thor laughed with relief.  
"Nothing." he said with a smile.  
"And?" Tony asked.  
"Widow?" Bruce asked.  
"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." She answered taking a drink of her drink.  
"(Y/n)?" Clint asked turning his head to look at her, she looked at him their faces close, Tony and Bruce looked at each other and wiggled their eyebrows.  
"Ehh..." she said.  
"C'mon, (Y/n), father loves you, who knows you might be worthy..." Thor said with a smile.  
"Yeah, go on, (Y/n). Show us what you got." Tony said with a smirk. The rest of the group cheered her on and she stood up.  
"I don't want to break my arm again..." she said walking over to the hammer. Natasha looked at her with a smile.  
"Again?" she asked.  
"Not a tale that I want to tell, you can ask Stark for the gruesome details." she said stepping up onto the table and resting her hands on her hips.  
"Long story short, I came in a little hot with my landing and the suit malfunctioned and I hit her." Tony said raising his hands.  
"Tony!" Steve said looking at him with wide eyes.  
"It was an accident, swear to god!" Tony exclaimed. (Y/n) chuckled and looked at him.  
"Which god?" she asked with a wink.  
"The god of none of your business." he said with a smirk. "Now get on with it, I wanna see you fail."  
(Y/n) rolled her eyes, stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles. "You got this... You got this..." she said rubbing her hands on her black skinny jeans.  
"Enough with the pep-talk! Get on with it!" Clint said with a smirk.  
"When I lift this the first thing I'm doing is hitting you with it." she said wrapping her hands around the handle.  
"Oooh, very cocky." Sam said as he nudged Steve. Steve chuckled and looked at (Y/n).  
"You got this!" he cheered.  
(Y/n) took a deep breath and pulled with all her might, but it didn't budge. She let out the breath and pulled again, this time she lifted it, but it fell back down, this time landing on the ground, and it took her with it.  
"Ow..." she groaned. Tony laughed as Clint helped her up, checking her for any injuries.  
"That was awesome," Maria said.  
Clint cupped (Y/n)'s face as he continued to inspect her for injuries.  
"Clint, I'm fine," she said pulling his hands down from her face. "I guess I'm not worthy afterall..." she said with a shrug. Clint wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Does anyone have any orange slices?” she asked sitting down with Clint.  
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony said, (Y/n) chuckled.  
"You bet your ass." Clint said aggravated.  
"Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria said pointing to Clint.  
"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asked.  
"Yeah, it just slipped, right Steve?" (Y/n) asked with a smirk, he rolled his eyes and smiled at her.  
"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?" Tony asked.  
"Which if that's the case..." Natasha said looking towards (Y/n).  
Bruce followed her eyes and his eyes lit up with a sudden realization. "Since (Y/n) can transform into anyone she wishes..."  
"If she turned into Thor..." Steve said looking at Bruce.  
"She should be able to fully lift it!" Tony said with a grin. "Go on, (Y/n)! Try it!"  
"It's not going to work," the avenger in question did her best Hermione Granger (from the Goblet of Fire) impression as she looked at the rest of the group.  
"Why wouldn't it?" Rhodes asked.  
(Y/n) shrugged. "Because it seems so simple, I highly doubt that Odin would have it be that simple because I am not the only person who can shape shift." she explained.  
"Yes, lots of people with magic can change their appearance." Thor said looking at (Y/n).  
"Like Loki, so Odin obviously wouldn't make it that easy. I bet it's a moral thing." she said wrapping an arm around Clint's torso.  
"Yes, well that's, uh, that was a very, very interesting theory, Tony. I have a simpler one." Thor said lifting the hammer from the floor and tossing it up in the air. "You're all not worthy."  
Everyone chimed in with a chorus of disagreement and how it's rigged, (Y/n) chuckled and wiped away a tear.  
Just then there was a loud screeching noise, causing everyone to cover their ears, it faded and everyone let their hands fall down as it faded. There was a makeshift iron legion type thing standing next to the elevator.  
" _ **Worthy... No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers.**_ " the robot said.  
"Stark." Steve said.  
"Tony." (Y/n) said standing up and looking at Tony.  
"J.A.R.V.I.S.." Tony said grabbing a device from his pocket.  
" _ **I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a-dream?**_ " the robot asked. (Y/n) raised an eyebrow and looked at it, it was a mangled mess.  
"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit." Tony said tapping his device.  
" ** _There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in... in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy._** " The bot said, (Y/n) raised her eyebrows and thoughts raced through her head. Who could he have killed if they were all here?  
"You killed someone?" Steve asked.  
" ** _Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices._** "  
"Who sent you?" Thor asked.  
The robot replayed a voice. "I see a suit of armor around the world." it was Tony's voice.  
"Ultron!" (Y/n) and Bruce exclaimed in unison.  
" ** _In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission._** " Ultron answered.  
"What mission?" Natasha asked.  
" ** _Peace in our time._** " he answered and suddenly the Iron Legion bots smashed through the walls and attacked the team.

  
···············

  
Bruce and Natasha went over the bar, Bruce landing on top of her, his face in her chest. "Sorry!" he said.  
"Don't turn green!" Natasha ordered.  
"I won't!" Bruce said.

  
···············

  
(Y/n) grabbed one of the bots and flung it to Steve who ripped it apart. As the team fought against the Iron Legion, Ultron took the scepter.  
"Stark!" Steve yelled as Tony is tried to shut down one of the Iron Legion.  
" _We are here to help_." it said.  
"One sec, one sec!" Tony shouted.  
" _We are here to help. We are here to help..._ " it repeated as Tony continued to try and shut down one of the Iron Legion. " _We are here to help. It's unsafe. It's unsafe. It's unsafe._ "  
"No more. That's the one."  
" _It's unsafe._ " Tony managed to shut down the Iron Legion, at the same time (Y/n) threw Steve's shield at him.  
"Cap!" Clint yelled at Steve to use his shield to dismember the last Iron Legion, and he did.  
" _ **That was dramatic! I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?**_ " Ultron said as he picked up one of the dismembered Iron Legion. " ** _With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction._** "  
Suddenly Thor threw Mjolnir at Ultron and smashed him to pieces.  
After Thor destroyed his body, Ultron started to sing. " ** _I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me._** "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know sam didnt stay for the party before the robot fight, but I love him and wanted to include him


	20. Together

~In the lab~

  
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch." Bruce stated.   
"Ultron?" Steve asked.  
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." (Y/n) said crossing her arms, Clint looked at her and wiped a bit of blood off her cheek, from a cut she didn't even realize she had.  
"He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodes asked.  
"Nuclear codes." Maria stated.  
"Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can." Rhodes suggested.   
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead." Natasha pointed out. (Y/n) rubbed the back of her neck, she had an uneasy feeling about this whole thing to begin with, yet she still helped Tony and Bruce.  
"He didn't say dead." Steve said looking at Natasha.  
"He said extinct." (Y/n) said looking at Tony who was messing with something.  
"He also said he killed somebody." Clint said, looking at the group.  
"But there wasn't anyone else in the building." Maria pointed out.  
_Exactly._ (Y/n) thought. _No one else was in the building except..._  
"Yes there was." Tony said as he brought up the destroyed 3D image of J.A.R.V.I.S.' consciousness. (Y/n) shook her head and looked down at the ground, she liked J.A.R.V.I.S., she would always ask him pointless questions or ask him to do things to mess with Tony (which he would do for her).  
"This is insane." Bruce said looking at the mangled consciousness of the AI.  
"J.A.R.V.I.S. was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense." Steve pointed out.  
"No, Ultron could've assimilated J.A.R.V.I.S.. This isn't strategy, this is... rage." (Y/n) said looking at Steve. Suddenly, Thor stormed in and grabbed hold of Tony by his throat and held him up in the air.  
"Woah, woah, woah! It's going around." Clint exclaimed. (Y/n) raised her eyebrows and watched the scene.  
"Come on. Use your words, buddy." Tony joked.  
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." Thor hissed.  
"Thor! The Legionnaire." Steve stated causing Thor to let go of Tony.  
"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again." He said giving a pointed look toward Tony.  
"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." Natasha said.  
"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr. Cho asked causing Tony to start laughing, Bruce and (Y/n) subtly shook their heads at him, trying to get him to stop.  
"You think this is funny?" Thor asked, clearly agitated.  
"No. It's probably not, right?" Tony asked causing (Y/n) to pinch the bridge of her nose and shake her head. "Is this very terrible? Is it so... Is it so... It is. It's so terrible."  
"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor growled.  
"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony defended.  
"Tony, maybe this might not be the time to..." Bruce started but Tony cut him off.  
"Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?" Tony asked, furious.  
"Only when I've created a murder bot." Bruce said, looking at him.  
"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"   
(Y/n) ran a hand through her hair and looked at the ground, this was partly her fault and Tony was getting all the heat for it, but in her defense she didn't want to do it but Tony coaxed her into it.  
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here." Steve said, looking at Tony.  
"The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D." (Y/n) pointed out crossing her arms.  
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked looking around the room.  
"No, it's never come up." Rhodes said, shaking his head.  
"Saved New York?"  
"Never heard that." Rhodes said with an eye roll. Tony basically mentioned it any chance he could get.  
"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but, that up there? That's... That's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?" Tony asked.  
"Together." Steve said with a look of sheer determination.   
"We'll lose." Tony said with all seriousness.  
"Then we'll do that together, too." Steve said as Tony looked at him for a moment before turning away.   
"Thor's right." (Y/n) said looking at Tony. "Ultron's calling us out."  
Steve nodded at her and furrowed his eyebrows. "And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

···············  
~the twins meet with Ultron in an empty building~

"Talk, and if you are wasting our time..." Wanda demanded.  
" ** _Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief_**." Ultron said as he sat in a chair faced away from them. " _ **You're wondering why you can't look inside my head**_."  
"Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself." Wanda said, then Ultron stood and faced them, revealing his new, metal, body. Wanda briefly looked shocked.  
" ** _Oh, I'm sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter._** " Ultron said matter-of-factly.  
"I didn't expect it. But I saw Stark's fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct." Wanda explained.  
" ** _Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create...smaller people? Uh… children! I lost the word there. Children. Designed to supplant them, to help them… end_**."  
"Is that why you've come? To end the Avengers?" Wanda asked.  
" ** _I've come to save the world. But also, yeah. We'll move out right away. This is a start, but there's something we need to begin the real work._** "  
"All of these are... All of these are..." Wanda said referring to the bots.  
" _ **Me. I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony. They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside the rest of their heads...**_ " Ultron explained.  
"Everyone's plan is not to kill them." Pietro said.  
" ** _And make them martyrs? You need patience. Need to see the big picture._** "  
"I don't see the big picture, I have a little picture. I take it out and look at it every day." Pietro explained looking at his sister and then to Ultron.  
" ** _You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records._** " Ultron said, looking at the twins.  
"The records are not the picture." Pietro said.  
"Pietro..." Wanda whispered as if to tell him not to go there.  
" _ **No, please.**_ "  
"We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big. Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed and the second shell hits. But, it doesn't go off. It just...sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word..." Pietro recalled, sadness and anger infused in his words.  
"Stark." Wanda hissed.  
"We were trapped, two days." Pietro said, looking at the bot.  
"Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, 'This will set it off.' We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us." Wanda said her words practically dripping with venom.  
"I know what they are." Pietro said.  
" ** _I wondered why only you two survived Strucker's experiments. Now I don't. We will make it right. You and I can hurt them_**." he turned to Wanda and directed his next statement toward her. " ** _But you will tear them apart, from the inside._** "  
Wanda looked up at him and smirked slightly. This was going to be child's play.


	21. Wakanada?

~At Avengers headquarters~

(Y/n) stood by the door way with her back resting against the wall, they were going on their mission today, and she didn't really want to have her mind warped by Wanda.  
"Hello, dear," Loki said appearing next to her, causing her to jump.  
"Odin's beard, Loki. You scared me." she said placing her hand over her heart. He smiled.  
"Sorry, love. I just wanted to see you before you went on your mission." he said looking into her light pink eyes, getting lost in them.  
"Loki," (Y/n) chuckled. "You're staring again," she said pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.  
"Sorry..." he said looking at the ground with a chuckle.  
"So who can see you this time?" she asked crossing her arms.  
"Just you, so if we want to continue this conversation you might want to get out your phone because Miss America and Agent Hill are coming this way."  
(Y/n) chuckled lightly and grabbed her phone from her pocket and rested it against her ear like she was having a conversation.  
"So what are you doing?" she asked looking into Loki's green eyes. He shrugged.  
"A little of this, a little of that... You know causing mischief as I go." he said with his usual smirk.  
"Well, don't get hurt, alright? I already thought I lost you once, I don't want to lose you again." she said with a sad smile. He nodded.  
"You be careful too. Remember what happened a couple of days ago? You were nearly killed!"  
"I'll be fine," she said. "We have a strong group out there and none of us are going to get hurt this time."  
Just then Steve and Maria walked through the doorway, (Y/n) and Loki looked at them. "We're almost ready to head out, (Y/n)." Steve said, giving her a small nod.  
She pulled her phone away from her ear and nodded back. Steve motioned to the phone with a questioning look on his face. "Boyfriend..." she said looking at Loki from the corner of her eye. Steve and Maria looked at each other with shock on their faces.   
"Yeah, it's just Maria and Steve..." she said placing the phone to her ear once more and carrying on the conversation as Loki, Steve and Maria looked at her. "No, we'll be fine, and you know that."  
Steve and Maria walked away from the fake phone call as Loki looked on with amusement and adoration.

  
··············

  
"Who do you think she was on the phone with?" Maria asked as they walked down the hallway.  
Steve smirked. "No clue." he couldn't wait to tell Tony and Bruce that (Y/n) may have finally moved on and that they need to figure out who this mystery man is.  
"Alright.... Well, Ultron's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place." Maria explained.  
"Fatalities?" Steve questioned.  
"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see." Maria said.  
"Maximoffs. Well, that makes sense he'd go to them, they have someone in common." Steve said referring to Strucker.  
"Not anymore." she said handing Steve a tablet showing a photo of Strucker's dead body with the word PEACE written in blood on the wall next to him.  
Steve continued down the hall to meet with the rest of the team but stopped when he heard Clint talking, he looked at the archer and saw him talking on his phone.  
"That's a negative. I answer to you..." Clint said with his back to Steve. "Yes, ma'am."  
"Barton, we might have something." Steve said interrupting him.  
"Gotta go." Clint said and then he hung up his phone.  
"Who was that?" Steve asked furrowing his eyebrows.  
"Girlfriend." Clint said with a shrug. Steve looked at him with a curious look, and then he began to piece together, seriously false, information. He gave Clint a knowing nod and walked into the meeting room.

···············

“I gotta go, Loki." (Y/n) said putting her phone in her pocket. He sighed.  
"Very well," he said with a frown. "Just promise me you'll be careful?"  
"Loki, I promise. I'll be fine." (Y/n) said with a smile.  
"I'll see you later, and you better be in one piece!" Loki exclaimed.  
"Just go," (Y/n) chuckled as she walked down the hall to the meeting.  
She entered the room and stood next to Clint at the back of the room, the friends stood shoulder to shoulder and waited for the rest of the team to join.  
After the team gathered Steve put up the picture to show them Strucker's body.  
"What's this?" Tony asked.  
"A message. Ultron killed Strucker." Steve said, looking at his team. (Y/n) raised her eyebrows, “why him” was the question on everyone's mind.  
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Tony said looking at the photo.  
"This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha asked, it wasn't usually a move that people played, usually it was kill and then speech not speech and then kill.  
"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." (Y/n) said crossing her arms over her chest, Steve glanced at her and nodded.  
"Yeah, I bet he..." Natasha said as she looked at the computer monitor. "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."  
"No… Not everything." Tony said, looking at the group. (Y/n) looked at him and silently groaned, she knew what he meant.  
The Avengers went through the physical files that they have on Strucker, box after box, paper after paper.  
"Known associates." Steve read as he looked down at the file in his hands. "Well, one thing's for sure, Strucker had a lot of friends."  
"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce said matter-of-factly.  
"Wait. I know that guy." Tony said, causing Bruce to pass him the photo he was looking at. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms." Steve looked at him with an accusing look. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything." He showed the photo of a man named Ulysses Klaue. "He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very 'Ahab'."  
Thor looked at the picture and furrowed his eyebrows and he pointed to the scar on the back of Klaue's neck. "This."  
"Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it..." Tony trailed off.  
"No, those are tattoos, this is a brand." Thor said. Bruce began to type on the computer trying to identify the brand on Klaue's neck.  
(Y/n) stepped forward and squinted her eyes at the photo. "It's a word..." she said raising an eyebrow. "It's in an African dialect and it means thief, in a much less friendly way." she said stepping back next to Clint, who looked at her proudly.  
"What dialect?" Steve asked looking at (Y/n), she opened her mouth but was stopped by Bruce.  
"Wakanada...?" He said mispronouncing the origin, causing (Y/n) to chuckle lightly. "Wa...Wa...Wakanda."  
"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..." Tony said but Steve stopped him.  
"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve asked looking at the short brunette, (Y/n) raised her eyebrows and looked at Tony.  
"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asked confused. (Y/n) looked down at Steve's shield.  
"The strongest metal on earth." (Y/n) muttered as she glanced up at Steve, whose jaw was clenched.  
"Where is this guy now?" Steve asked looking at Tony.

···············  
~Salvage Yard on the African Coast~

"Don't tell me your man swindled you. I sent you six short range heat seekers and got a boat full of rusted parts. Now, you will make it right, or the next missile I send you will come very much faster." Klaue said into the phone, when he ended the call he immediately connected to another call. "Now, minister, where were we?"  
Suddenly the lights went out, causing a commotion in the salvage yard, allowing the twins to enter Klaue's office.  
"Yeah. The enhanced. Strucker's prize pupils." Klaue said as he picked up a plate from his desk and offered some to them. "Want a candy? Oh, sorry to hear about Strucker. But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life, not a growth market." the twins looked at each other. "You...you didn't know? Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid that I'm not that afraid."  
"Everybody's afraid of something." Wanda stated, looking at him.  
"Cuttlefish!" Klaue said looking at her with wide eyes. "Deep sea fish. They make lights. disco lights. ' _Whoom, whoom, Whoom_ ' to hypnotize their prey, then _whoom_! I saw a documentary, it was terrifying." he said.  
Pietro sped over to pick up a candy from Klaue's desk, and that caused Klaue to jerk back, expecting to be attacked. "So if you're going to fiddle with my brain, and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business, and I know you're not in charge, and I only deal with the man in charge."  
As he said that, Ultron broke through the glass window and knocked down Klaue. " ** _There is no 'man' in charge. Let's talk business._** " he said. Klaue gave Ultron some vibranium from his stash. " _ **Upon this rock I will build my church. Vibranium.**_ "  
"You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." Klaue said causing Ultron to chuckle and remotely put money in Klaue's bank account.  
" _ **Now, so are you. It's all under your dummy holdings? Finance is so weird. But I always say, 'keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which.'**_ "  
"Stark." Klaue said under his breath.  
" _ **What?**_ " Ultron asked.  
"Tony Stark used to say that... to me. You're one of his."he said nonchalantly.   
" _ **What?! I'm not...!**_ " Ultron said as he grabbed Klaue. " _ **I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!**_ " He suddenly chopped off Klaue's arm. " ** _I'm sorry. I am sor... Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just that I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!_** " he said with a tone of sarcasm as he kicked Klaue down the stairs. " ** _It's a thing with me. Stark is... he's a sickness!_** "  
Just then Tony appeared clad in his Iron Man suit. "Ahh, Junior." he said as Thor, (Y/n) and Steve showed up behind him. "You're gonna break your old man's heart." (Y/n) shook her head at Tony's constant need to make jokes, but if that's how he deals with his nerves in such situations... Who is she to judge?  
" ** _If I have to._** " Ultron said, looking at the four Avengers.  
"We don't have to break anything." Thor said with his brows furrowed.  
(Y/n) pursed her lips in thought. _Right... Thor has never made..._  
" ** _Clearly you've never made an omelet._** " Ultron joked.  
_Yep, like father like murder bot._  
"He beat me by one second." Tony joked. (Y/n) rolled her eyes and looked at the silver haired Maximoff.  
"Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" Pietro asked.  
"This was never my life." Tony clarified.  
"You two can still walk away from this." (Y/n) said looking at the twins. Pietro looked at her and raised an eyebrow.  
"Oh, we will." Wanda stated.  
"I know you've suffered..." Steve said.  
" ** _Uuughh! Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..._** " Ultron complained. (Y/n) rolled her eyes again, he really is like Tony.  
"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor grunted looking at the robot.  
" ** _I think you're confusing peace with quiet._** "  
"Uh-huh. What's the Vibranium for?" Tony asked.  
" ** _I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!_** " Ultron said enthusiastically as the Iron Legion suddenly attacked Tony, (Y/n), Steve and Thor. Tony fought with Ultron as Steve, (Y/n) and Thor took care of the Iron Legion, the Maximoff twins watched.

···············

"Shoot them!" Klaue ordered his mercenary.  
"Which ones?" his mercenary asked.  
"All of them!" Klaue shouted.  
"Move, move, move!" the mercenary yelled to the rest of Klaue's men.

···············

Natasha and Clint joined the battle with the Iron Legions and Klaue's men and the twins as Tony fought with Ultron.  
"Stay down, Quicky..." (Y/n) said with a huff after Pietro grabbed Thor's hammer and fell down into a bunch of boxes. Pietro looked up at her, confused by the nickname as she walked away. She shot one of the men aiming a gun at Steve and then one that was aiming at Clint.  
"It's time for some mind games." Ultron said looking down at Wanda, she nodded and made her way to the team.

···············

Bruce could hear all the commotion as he waited in the Quintet. He looked worried, and scared.  
"Guys, is this a Code Green?" He asked, but no one answered.

···············

Wanda walked behind Thor and waved her hands by this head, a red energy coming out of them and disappearing towards his head. She left with a smirk and made her way to Steve, Natasha and (Y/n).  
"Thor! Status?" (Y/n) yelled into the radio as she shot more of Klaue's men as well as a few of the Iron Legions.  
"The girl tried to warp my mind... Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty." he replied, causing (Y/n) to roll her eyes and look at Clint.  
"The Mighty Thor!" she mocked, causing Clint to laugh and shoot an arrow at a robot across the room.  
"Well, he is a God," he said loading another arrow. "Of course he's mighty."  
"Is he though?" (Y/n) asked reloading her guns.

···············

Thor walked through the building and seemed to find himself at a party... on Asgard. He looked around confused and a little scared.

···············

Wanda then used her power on Steve and Natasha. She walked up behind (Y/n). (Y/n) closed her eyes as someone's thoughts entered her head, they were a female's thoughts.  
_Let's see... What are your deepest, darkest, fears?_  
She opened her eyes and glanced at the woman from her peripheral vision, it was Wanda.

···············

" ** _This is going very well._** " Ultron boasted.

···············

She reached out her hands but (Y/n) quickly turned around, grabbed her arm and flipped her so she was now on the ground.  
"You shouldn't think so loud," she said looking into Wanda's wide eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, kid... I really don't. But you messed with my friends so I have to." (Y/n) said raising a fist to punch the young woman in the face, but a mist of blue and silver knocked her backwards.  
Pietro looked down at her with a smirk. "You didn't see that coming?" he asked with a wink before speeding off. (Y/n) sat up with a groan and saw that Wanda was gone.  
"Quick little bastard..." she said slowly getting up from her spot on the ground. She made her way over to where she last saw Clint.

···············

Wanda shook off what happened with (Y/n) and made her way to the archer. She walked up behind him and tried to sneak up on him, but he quickly turned and put an electric arrow on her forehead.  
_Are you fucking kidding me?!_ Wanda thought squeezing her eyes shut in pain.  
"I've done the whole mind control thing." Clint said looking down at her. "Not a fan."  
Just then Pietro sped up and knocked Clint down, (Y/n) ran up right as the silver haired Maximoff picked up his sister and sped off.  
"Yeah, you better run." Clint groaned, (Y/n) held out her hand and helped up her friend.  
"She tried to fuck with your mind too?" she asked looking up at Clint. He nodded and they both looked around the place looking for their team.

···············

Steve dropped his helmet and looked around, he wasn't in the salvage yard anymore, he was back in the 1940's.

···············

(Y/n) raised her hand to the ear piece and looked up at Clint. "Whoever's standing, we gotta move!" she ordered, no one answered, her face filled with worry.  
Clint furrowed his eyebrows. "Guys?" he asked again, getting no answer.  
"You find Nat, I'll find Steve and Thor." (Y/n) said jumping off of the platform and landing on her feet. "You try to get ahold of Bruce and tell him to not hulk out, this isn't a code green, we are gonna leave shortly." she ordered as she holstered her guns, she looked up at him with a worried face. "Do you know where Tony is?"


	22. Trading Sides

**Korea**

"Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We're uploading your cerebral matrix... now." Dr. Helen Cho said as she pressed the final key.   
"I can read him. He is dreaming." Wanda said stepping into the room toward the cradle.  
"I wouldn't call it dreams." Helen said shaking her head. "It's Ultron's base consciousness, informational noise. Soon..."  
" _ **How soon? I'm not being pushy**_." Ultron said, wires connected to him.   
"We're imprinting a physical brain." Helen said looking at him. "There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is..." she trailed off as Wanda began reading Ultron's mind, she saw a vision of global annihilation, which horrified her causing her to scream and Pietro to rush to her side.  
"How could you?" She asked looking at the robot.  
" ** _How could I what_**?" Ultron asked.  
Wanda furrowed her eyebrows and glared at him. "You said we would destroy the Avengers, make a better world."   
" _ **It will be better**_." Ultron said looking at her, shaking his head.  
"When everyone is dead." Wanda spat.  
" ** _That is not...!_** " Ultron began. " _ **The human race will have every opportunity to improve.**_ "  
"And if they don't?" Pietro asked raising an eyebrow.  
" ** _Ask Noah_**." Ultron smirked.  
Wanda looked to her brother before looking back to the murderbot. "You're a madman."  
" ** _There were more than a dozen extinction level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs._** " Ultron explained. " **When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he's winding up. We have to evolve. There's no room for the weak.** "  
"And who decides who's weak?" Pietro asked, distracting Ultron so Wanda could break the scepters hold of Helen Cho.   
" _ **Life. Life always decides**_." Ultron answered. " ** _There's incoming. The Quinjet. We have to move._** "   
Helen canceled the upload to Ultron's consciousness. Ultron looked at Helen, an angry snarl on his metal face, he blasted Helen as Wanda and Pietro ran off.  
" ** _Ah, wait, guys!_** " Ultron exclaimed as he blasted Helen's technicians. " ** _They'll understand. When they see, they'll understand. I just need a little more time_**." he said as he unplugged himself from the Cradle.

  
···············

Steve and (Y/n) stood on the roof of the U-Gin Genetic Research Lab. Steve looks at (Y/n) and nods.  
"Two minutes. Stay close." She said to the others over the radio comms. They go inside, Steve leading the way.   
"Dr. Cho!" Steve exclaimed running toward, the body leaning against the wall.   
"She's wounded." (Y/n) said as she looked around for any trace of the Twins or Ultron.   
"H-he's uploading himself into the body." Dr. Cho said looking at Steve.  
"Where?" Steve said, his brows furrowed under his mask. (or is it a Helmet?)  
"The real power is inside the Cradle..." (Y/n) said walking over to them, crouching next to the doctor.  
She looked over at the (h/c) haired avenger and nodded. "The gem, it's power is un-uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark."  
(Y/n) exhaled and nodded as she stood up and began to exit the lab.  
"First we have to find it." Steve said looking at Dr. Cho.   
"Go." She said.  
Steve nodded and joined (Y/n) just outside the lab by a window.

···············

" _Did you guys copy that_?" (Y/n) asked over the comms.  
"We did." Clint answered.  
"I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest. That could be him." Nat said.  
Clint looked out the window of the quinjet and noticed a truck leaving the lab. "There. It's the truck from the lab. Coming your way on the loop by the bridge. It's them. I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver..."

···············

"Negative!" Steve yelled as he and (Y/n) began to walk down the long hallway, they stopped at the end and turned back to the window. "If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city."  
"We need to draw out Ultron." (Y/n) said looking up at Steve. He nodded and they both ran back to the window and jumped through the glass, falling through the air and landing right onto the roof of the truck.  
_That was better calculated than I thought_. (Y/n) smirked to herself.

···············

" ** _No, no, no, no, no. Leave me alone!_** " Ultron yelled.

···············

Steve and (Y/n) made their way to the back door of the Truck, but Ultron blasted the door as Steve tried to get in.  
"Well, he's definitely unhappy!" (Y/n) exclaimed looking at Steve with furrowed eyebrows.  
"Yeah, I'm gonna try and keep him that way." Steve said.   
" _You're not a match for him, Cap_." Clint said over the comm.  
"Thanks, Barton." Steve rolled his eyes.   
" _Maybe (Y/n) could though..._ "   
"Aw, thanks Clint." (Y/n) smiled at Steve who just shook his head.  
The two of them went to enter the truck, but Ultron blasted them, Steve grabbed (Y/n)'s hand and pulled her back onto the roof.  
" ** _You know what's in that Cradle? The power to make real change, and that terrifies you_**." Ultron said as he made his way onto the roof with the two avengers.  
"I wouldn't call it a comfort." (Y/n) said as she and Steve readied themselves for a fight. Steve tried to fight with Ultron, throwing his shield at him, but Ultron grabbed it and threw it aside and blasted him.  
" ** _Stop it!_** " The bot growled.   
(Y/n) looked at Steve as he slid across the roof of the truck, she looked back to the bot who smiled at her.  
"Well... let's get this over with, shall we?" She asked as unclipped a metal bar from her belt.  
" ** _You're going to hit me with a small piece of metal_**?" Ultron chuckled.  
(Y/n) smirked as she pressed a button on it and a glowing bundle of electricity, colored scarlet, shot out of both ends. She argued with Tony when he gave it to her because he clearly just ripped it off from the lightsaber of Darth Maul, but he ignored her and proceeded to give Nat two batons that served the same function (though hers were blue). It is literally just electricity, and can deliver powerful, electrical shocks to incapacitate targets. Hopefully powerful enough to cause damage to Ultron.   
" ** _Well... that's an interesting development._** " Ultron said as he stepped forward and the two began to fight.

···············

Clint looked back to Natasha. "We got a window. Four, three... give 'em hell." He said as he pressed a button and the door to the Quinjet opened. Natasha dropped out of it on a bike and landed on the road. She rode towards the truck but first picked up Steve's shield.  
"I'm always picking up after you boys." She said shaking her head slightly.   
" _They're heading under the overpass, I've got no shot_." Clint said to her over the comms.  
"Which way?"  
" _Hard right... Now._ "  
Natasha took a right and made her way over to the truck, she threw Steve back his shield and he used it to knock Ultron off (Y/n).  
"Out of the way! Coming through! Sorry, coming through!" Natasha shouted to the pedestrians on the pavement as she chased after the truck on her motorbike.

···············

Steve and (Y/n) continued their fight with Ultron on top of the truck. Ultron knocked (y/n) back, and she slid across the top and over the side.  
"Shit!" She exclaimed as she gripped the top. She looked below her and saw the fast moving pavement and shook her head. "I'm never fighting on a moving vehicle again." She said pulling herself back up.  
"Come on!" Steve exclaimed, he was tired of this useless fight. 

···············

"Clint, can you draw out the guards?" Natasha asked.  
" _Let's find out_." Clint smirked.  
"Beep beep!" Natasha called to the pedestrians in her way as Clint managed to draw out the Ultron sentries from the truck, and as Steve and (Y/n) both tackle Ultron into a train. This causes the Ultron Sentries leave Clint and return to Ultron.  
" _Heading back towards you. So whatever you're going to do, do it now_." Clint informed.  
"I'm going in, Cap can you and (Y/n) keep him occupied?" Natasha asked as she continued to race to the truck.  
Steve grunted as he and (Y/n) continued their battle with Ultron. " _What do you think we've been doing?_ "  
Natasha entered the truck, causing the Iron Legions to head back and pick up the truck- lifting it off the ground.   
" _The package is airborne. I have a clean shot_." Clint said over the comm.  
"Negative. I am still in the truck." Natasha said, looking out the back of the truck to the city below.  
" _What the hell are you?_ " Clint asked.  
"Just be ready, I'm sending the package to you."   
" _How do you want me to take it?_ "  
"Uhh, you might wish you hadn't asked that." Natasha fought a smirk as she looked down at the Cradle. 

···············

Pietro and Wanda make their way onto the train to help Steve and (Y/n) fight. Ultron  
" _ **Please. Don't do this**_." Ultron said, looking at Wanda, a frown on his, ugly, metal face.  
"What choice do we have?" Wanda said, her eyes set on helping the civilians. Ultron shakes his head flew off, his support leaving him.

···············

"Nat, we gotta go." Clint said. Natasha dropped the cradle into the Quinjet, but her foot got caught by Ultron and she's yanked away.  
"Nat!" Clint yelled looking over his shoulder. "Cap, you see Nat?"  
" ** _If you have the Cradle, get it to Stark! Go!_** " Steve ordered.  
"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint asked once more, worry in his voice.  
" ** _Go!_** " Steve ordered again.  
Reluctantly Clint took off in the Quinjet, bringing the cradle to Tony at the tower.

···············

"Civilians in our path." (Y/n) said, looking at Pietro. "Can you get 'em out of the way, Quickie?"  
Pietro nodded and sped off.  
Steve turned to Wanda. "Can you stop this thing?" She nodded.  
Pietro ran and picked up civilians and put them out of the way of the train, weaving through a bunch of things to get them all as Wanda used her powers to stop the train.  
When the train finally stopped Pietro leaned against it, having saved the civilians. Wanda climbed out and quickly made her way over to an out of breath Pietro.  
"I'm fine. I just need to take a minute." the silver haired Maximoff panted.  
"I'm very tempted not to give you one." Steve said as he and (Y/n) walked over to them.  
"The Cradle, did you get it?" Wanda asked looking at them with hopeful eyes.  
"Stark will take care of it." Steve said looking at her, he didn't fully trust her, but she did just abandon Ultron to help them.  
"No, he won't." Wanda said, shaking her head.  
"You don't know what you're talking about, Tony's not that crazy." (Y/n) scoffed.  
Wanda looked at her. "He will do anything to make things right."   
(Y/n) furrowed her eyebrows and raised her hand to her earpiece. "Tony, come in. Tony... Anyone on comms?" she asked.  
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it." Wanda said looking at Steve. "Where do you think he gets that?" she asked looking at (Y/n) who looked up at Steve.  
The supersoldier clenched his jaw, worried about what Tony would do with the cradle.

···············

"Anything on Nat?" Bruce asked as he and Tony stood over the cradle.  
Tony shook his head. "Haven't heard. But she's alive, or Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in it."  
"This is sealed tight." Clint said, standing up from his crouching position by the cradle.  
Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. "We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within."  
"Hm..." Tony turned to Clint. "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?"   
Clint's eyes lit up. "There's some nets I can cast. Yeah, alright. I'll find her." He said nodding his head before walking off.   
"I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted." Bruce said putting on his glasses.  
Tony pursed his lips. "Yeah, about that..."   
Bruce looks at him. "No."  
"You have to trust me." Tony pleaded.  
"Kinda don't." Bruce argued shaking his head.  
Tony sighed. "Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him." he then brough up JARVIS's consciousness.  
" ** _Hello, Dr. Banner._** " The AI greeted, bruce looked surprised.  
"Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do." Tony explained. "So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together."  
Bruce looked at Tony skeptically. "So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?"  
"No, of course not!" Tony said, waving him off. "I want to help you put JARVIS in this thing." He said, pointing at Bruce, who shook his head. "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone." Tony continued.  
"And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Bruce asked.  
"JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to." Tony stated, trying to convince Bruce to just try with him.  
" _ **I believe it's worth a go**_." JARVIS said, ready to help take down Ultron in anyway he can.  
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong."  
Tony nodded and looked at Bruce, a pleading look on his face. "I know, I know. I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand."  
Bruce shook his head.   
"It's not a loop. It's the end of the line." Tony finished.


	23. Birth of a Vision

in a building in Sokovia 

" _ **I wasn't sure you'd wake up**_." Ultron said as Natasha became conscious. " ** _I hoped you would, I wanted to show you something. I don't have anyone else. I think a lot about meteors, the purity of them. Boom! The end, start again. The world made clean for the new man to rebuild. I was meant to be new. I was meant to be beautiful. The world would've looked to the sky and seen hope, seen mercy. Instead they'll look up in horror because of you. You've wounded me. I give you full marks for that. But, like the man said, "What doesn't kill me… just makes me stronger._** " He said as he stood taller, a brand new Ultron, a bigger better Ultron stood in front of her and locked her in a cell, he walks away and Natasha began to send out a message in Morse Code.

···············

Clint gets the message from Natasha, which enables him to detect her location, at the same time Tony and Bruce begin experimenting on the synthetic body.  
"This framework is not compatible." Tony said.  
"The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes." Bruce said looking at Tony, just as Steve, (Y/n) and the Maximoff twins enter the lab.  
"I'm gonna say this once-" Steve said with a frown and stormed towards Tony and Bruce. (Y/n) stood next to Wanda and Pietro, kind of protecting them from anything that could happen.  
"How about 'nonce'?" Tony asked with an exhausted expression.  
"Shut it down!" Steve yelled, Tony shook his head and pursed his lips.  
"Nope, that's not gonna happen." Tony said.  
"Tony, you don't know what you're doing." (Y/n) said pleading with him, stepping forward a bit. Tony looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.  
"And you do?" Bruce asked defensively. "She's not in your head?" he asked pointing towards Wanda.  
(Y/n) shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows, stepping toward Bruce and Tony once more. "It's not that easy to get into."  
"I know you're angry-" Wanda said looking at Bruce. (Y/n) looked over her shoulder at Wanda, then back to Bruce.  
"Oh, we're way past that." Bruce chuckled. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."  
(Y/n) looked at her friend with an uncertain expression, Bruce's words were truly unnerving.   
"Bruce, after everything that's happened..." (Y/n) began, trying to talk them out of this again.  
"That's nothing compared to what's coming, (Y/n)!" Tony yelled, causing her to flinch slightly and Pietro to ball his fists and watch the short brunette with caution.  
"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda yelled, pointing at the synthetic body.  
"This isn't a game, Tony..." (Y/n) said softly, Pietro looked at her then back to Tony. "The creature..." she continued but was cut off as Pietro used his super speed to destroy the lab equipment.  
"No, no. Go on. You were saying?" Pietro said with his arms crossed. Just then a bullet gets shot from below causing the glass Pietro was standing on to shatter and he fell through. Clint was the culprit.  
"Pietro!" (Y/n) and Wanda shouted in unison. Tony looked at his friend in shock, why did she care so much for him?  
"What? You didn't see that coming?" Clint sneered.  
"Go ahead, piss me off." Bruce said growled at Wanda. (Y/n) stepped in front of the girl glaring at her friend, she would not let Wanda get hurt... Sure Wanda and Pietro used to work with Ultron but everyone deserves a redemption arc.  
Just then Thor entered the lab and pounded on the cradle with his hammer, sending a powerful bolt of lightning that brought the body to life. Everyone looks in shock at the body, who has J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice, has become something... Some kind of magenta skinned android.  
"I'm sorry, that was...odd." The android apologized. He looked at Thor. "Thank you."  
"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve asked with furrowed eyebrows.  
"I've had a vision." Thor said looking at him then to (Y/n). "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." the God said as he pointed to the gem inside the Android's forehead.  
"What, the gem?" Bruce asked.  
"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones," Thor said, "the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."  
"Then why would you bring it to..." Steve questioned.  
"Because Stark is right." Thor said.  
"Oh, it's definitely the end times." (Y/n) sighed as she ran a hand over her face.  
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor said, looking at (Y/n)'s exasperated face.  
"Not alone." the Vision said.  
"Why does your "vision" sound like J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Steve asked, confused about the whole ordeal.  
"You... You reconfigured J.A.R.V.I.S.' matrix to create something new..." (Y/n) said in shock, yet a small smile began to make its way onto her face.  
"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve said, looking at Vision with furrowed eyebrows.  
"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" Vision asked, looking at Steve.  
Steve raised his eyebrows slightly. "You're not?"  
"I'm not Ultron. I'm not J.A.R.V.I.S.. I am... I am..."  
"I looked in your head and saw annihilation." Wanda said looking at him with caution.  
"Look again." Vision said.  
"Yeah. Her seal of approval means dick to me." Clint said looking at Wanda with a frown.  
(Y/n) ran a hand through her hair and walked over to Thor. "Their powers, the horrors in our heads, even Ultron himself... they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash..." she said piecing together every bit of information she could. Thor looked down at her and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the intelligent rambling of his friend. "But with it on our side..."  
"Is it?" Steve asked cutting her off. "Are you? On our side?" he asked Vision.  
"I don't think it's that simple."  
"Well it better get real fucking simple real fucking soon." Clint said, anger in his voice.  
"I am on the side of life." Vision answered.  
(Y/n) looked up at him... It all made sense now... They needed this. Vision was the answer. "Because Ultron isn't..." she muttered, the team all looked at her. "He's gonna end it all..." she said looking at Vision for confirmation, he nodded.  
"Then what's he waiting for?" Tony asked looking from his best friend to the red body of his, reconfigured, AI.  
"You." Vision answered.


	24. Hurt 'Em Back

"Where?" Bruce asked, looking at Clint.  
"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too."  
"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..." Bruce began to threaten, (Y/n) watched with wide eyes.  
"What will you do?" the android asked as he looked over the team, and the Maximoff's realizing that they will all destroy him if they're wrong. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go." he said as he held up Thor's hammer and handed it back to him, then he walked off. The team stares in shock.  
"Right." Thor said as he patted Tony on the back. "Well done."  
(Y/n) looked up at Steve then to the others. "Three minutes. Get what you need." she ordered before walking away.  
The team all started to get ready to leave, Tony loaded up a new AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y., into his Iron Man suit since J.A.R.V.I.S. is no longer available.  
" ** _Good evening, boss_**." the Scottish AI sounded.  
"No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. It's gonna be blood on the floor." Tony said as he stood next to Steve and (Y/n).  
(Y/n) nodded her head as she pulled on her black combat boots.  
"I got no plans tomorrow night." Steve smiled slightly.  
"I got nothing to live for..." (Y/n) muttered as she laced her boots. Steve and Tony looked at her as she stood up from her kneeling position. "What? It's true."  
"If we survive this, we're going to have a talk." Tony said pointing a finger towards her, she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."  
"That's true, he hates you the most." Vision commented as he walked past them, they watched him walk to Thor. (Y/n) laughed, angering Tony a little, before walking away to find the Maximoff's. She found them as they put in their ear pieces.  
"You guys understand that you're Avengers now, right?" she asked with a smile. Pietro looked down at her and nodded slightly, a light pink color dusting his cheeks.  
"W-what if we don't win?" Wanda asked looking at the Avenger. (Y/n) wrapped her arm around Wanda's shoulder, causing her to look at her with wide eyes, a little scared from the sudden contact.  
"Well, we will try our best to stop this, together." she explained.  
"But what if we fail?" the silver haired Sokovian asked, his blue eyes staring into (Y/n)'s vivid blue orbs (blue, due to sadness of previous events and the sudden realization that this could be her last day on earth).  
"Then we'll do that together too." she smiled at the twins. "We got your backs as long as you have ours."  
Pietro looked at Wanda and nodded. "We have all of your backs."  
"That's great!" she said with a smile. "Hey, as it being your guys' first day on the team, it's not really a tradition - well it's kinda my tradition, but..." (Y/n) trailed off as she took her phone out of her bag, she opened the camera and looked at them with a shrug. "We can take a photo to always look back on this day." she said with a smile.  
Pietro chuckled and nudged Wanda. "What do you say, sister?"  
"Okay," Wanda said with a smile. (Y/n) smiled widely and got in between the two new recruits she held the phone out in front of them as Pietro wrapped an arm around (Y/n)'s shoulder and smirked at the camera, Wanda smiled slightly and (Y/n) snapped the picture.  
"That's a keeper." she said looking at it.  
"You have a beautiful smile," Pietro said looking down at the photo.  
"You can flirt with me when this is all over, pretty boy." she said putting the phone back into the bag, patting his cheek lightly before walking back over to Steve and Tony.  
"She thinks I'm pretty?" Pietro asked with a smirk. Wanda looked up at him and chuckled lightly before looking at (Y/n) as she talked with Tony and Steve, no doubt trying to come up with some kind of plan to notify the team of later.  
"Do you like her, brother?" Wanda asked.  
Pietro shrugged. "I hardly know her... But.. I know that she is good people. She's not too bad to look at either."  
Wanda looked up at him with a smile. "Are you crushing on her?"  
"What? No..." Pietro blushed.  
Wanda chuckled. "When this is over I think you should ask her out to dinner... That is if we make it out of this alive."  
"We will make it out of this alive." Pietro said squeezing his sisters shoulder in a comforting manner. "And I _will_ ask her out to dinner."

~~~

(Y/n) and Steve stood in front of the team, in the Quinjet, letting them know the plan. (Y/n) clad in the new suit that Maria had made for her, it was a black, leather, catsuit (with dark green lining the collar, and a green belt with a gold avengers logo on the buckle); with an array of daggers hanging from her hips; and two katana's on her back, and her Tony Stark brand lightsaber. Though the suit reminded her of Loki, she pushed all thoughts of him away, and focused on the mission at hand.  
"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for." Steve said looking at the team with his arms crossed.  
"But the people of Sokovia," (Y/n) said glancing towards Pietro and Wanda, "they didn't. So our priority is getting them out, and making sure they are safe."

···············

Pietro sped into the Sokovian police station.  
"We're under attack! Clear the city, now!" he ordered before speeding out again, but no one takes this order seriously. Pietro returns with a gun and starts fires in the in air. "Get off your asses."

···············

Wanda uses her mind powers on the people of Sokovia getting them to evacuate, making them leave their homes and places of work, trying to get them to safety.

~~~

_"All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building." Steve ordered._   
_"We find Nat, and we clear the field. We keep the fight between us... Ultron thinks we're the monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him." (Y/n) said with her hands on her hips as she stood in front of the team with Steve. "It's about whether he's right."_

_(Y/n) looked at Steve as they all walked to the Quinjet. "Did I do good with the whole speech thing?" She asked, worry written all over her face._   
_Steve smiled down at her. "You did just fine, (y/n). It was very inspiring. Maybe one day you can lead the Avengers."_   
_She shook her head. "No.... that's okay.... I'm not leader material, no one would follow my orders."_   
_"You'd be surprised." He smirked._

···············

Bruce crept through the dark building. "Natasha! Natasha!" he whispered.  
"Bruce?" Natasha asked as she heard his calls.  
Bruce walked over to her cell. "You alright?" he asked, concern washing over his features.  
"Yeah."  
"The team's in the city, it's about to light up." Bruce informed her.  
"I don't suppose you found a key lying around somewhere?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, I did." he said as he held up a gun and blasted the cell door open.  
"So what's our play?" Natasha asked as she exited the cell.  
"I'm here to get you to safety." Bruce said looking her in the eyes.  
"the Job's not finished." Natasha argued.  
"We could help with the evacuation, but I can't be in a fight near civilians. And you've done plenty. Our fight is over." Bruce said with a pleading look.  
"So we just disappear?"

···············

" _Your man's in the church, boss. I think he's waiting for you._ " F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed as the rest of the team evacuated the city. Tony flew into the church and looked at Ultron.  
" ** _Come to confess your sins_**?" Ultron asked.  
"I don't know, how much time you got?" Tony joked, even in a time like this, he still has his humor. Now isn't appropriate for jokes but hey... It is what it is.  
" ** _More than you_**." Ultron smiled.  
"Uhhh. Have you been juicing? A little Vibranium cocktail? You're looking, I don't wanna say, puffy..." Tony stalled.  
" ** _You're stalling to protect the people_**." Ultron pointed out, knowing exactly what Tony was doing.  
"Well, that is the mission. Did you forget?" Tony asked.  
" ** _I've moved beyond your mission. I'm free_**." Ultron said, and suddenly the Vibranium core he placed beneath the church floor erupted. " ** _What, you think you're the only one stalling?_** "  
" _There's the rest of the Vibranium_." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said. "Function: still unclear."  
"This is how you end, Tony." Ultron smirked. "This is peace in my time."

···············

Ultron's army of robots start attacking the city as everyone is evacuating.  
"Go!" Steve yelled.  
"Get off the Bridge!" (Y/n) yelled as she ushered people off the bridge.  
"Get off the bridge! Run!" Wanda yelled as well, people running past the three of them.

···············

Vision finds Ultron and stares at him. "Ultron."  
" _ **My Vision**_." Ultron smiled. " _ **They really did take everything from me**_."  
"You set the terms, you can change them." Vision tried to negotiate.  
" ** _Alright_**." Ultron said before he and Vision started to battle it out.

···············

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.! The Vision?" Tony asked for an update.  
" _Boss, it's working. He's burning Ultron out of the net, he won't escape through there._ " F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed.

···············

" ** _You shut me out! You think I care? You take away my world, I take away yours_**." Ultron sneered at Vision as he activated the Vibranium core and the Earth around Sokovia starts to shake and break apart.

···············

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Tony asked as he looked around the city.  
" _Sokovia's going for a ride, boss_." the AI said with a grim tone as Sokovia was being destroyed.

···············

" _ **Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal**_." Ultron said as the earth was shaking and falling in around them.

···············

"We gotta move." Bruce said, taking Natasha's hand in his.  
"You're not going to turn green?" Natasha asked.  
"I've got a compelling reason not to lose my cool." Bruce said, looking at Natasha.  
"I adore you," Natasha smiled as she pressed a kiss to Bruce's lips then pushed him off the edge of a hole. "But I need the other guy."  
The Hulk jumped up in front of her, and let out a roar.  
"Let's finish the job." Natasha smirked as Hulk put her on his back and ran to the city, Natasha yelling in fright on occasion. "I really hope this makes us even." Natasha said as she got off him. "Now go be a hero." she said. Hulk nods slightly then runs off as Natasha rushed off in the opposite direction.

···············

" _The Vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together_." The new AI informed.  
"If it drops?" Tony asked with a worried expression.  
" _Right now the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough: Global extinction_." F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered. Tony flew towards the city as a building started to collapse, due to the ground shaking. " _That building's not clear, Tenth floor_." she informed.  
Tony flew into the apartment building and to the apartment he was notified about, he finds a family still in their home, looks of pure terror on their faces.  
"Hi. Okay. Get in the tub!" Tony ordered as the family huddled in their bathroom. He then flew the family, in the tub, out of the collapsing apartment building.  
" _I got airborne, heading up to the bridge_." F.R.I.D.A.Y. notified.  
"Cap, you got incoming." Tony informed, a little too late."

···············

"Incoming already came in." Steve groaned slightly. "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart." Steve said as he looked at the bots approaching him. "You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off."

···············

(Y/n) fought with Clint, him shooting the far bots down and her stabbing the closer ones in the head with her katana's.  
Clint got Wanda out of the way and rushed her into a building as Ultron's robots attacked the city.  
"Go, go, move!" he ordered, they entered and (Y/n) came tumbling in after them, almost falling flat on her face.  
"How could I let this happen?" Wanda asked as she crouched to the ground, holding her hands to her head. She was starting to break down, this was not good- especially in the midst of battle. (Y/n) looked at Clint and nudged him, motioning to Wanda.  
Clint gave her an unsure look and shrugged. He didn't really know how to handle teenagers? Or... Women in their early twenties?  
He crouched down next to Wanda. "Hey, hey, you okay?"  
"This is all our fault." Wanda said, panic in her voice.  
"Hey, look at me." Clint said as (Y/n) crouched down next to him. "It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares? Are you up for this? Are you?" Clint asked.  
(Y/n) looked at him with a raised eyebrow, this wasn't really sounding like a pep talk.  
"Look, I just need to know, cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow, and she has two swords and like eight daggers." he said motioning towards (Y/n), who smiled lightly at Wanda. "None of this makes sense. But we're going back out there because it's our job. Okay? And we can't do our job and babysit." Clint said looking into her eyes.  
"It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were, Wanda. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill." (Y/n) said looking at her with an encouraging smile. "If you stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find you." she said.  
"But if you step out that door, you are an Avenger." Clint finished. Wanda just looked at him, very terrified. "Alright, good chat." he said as he got up and got ready to leave. He looked at (Y/n), who took a deep breath and looked at him.  
"Yeah, the city is flying." she muttered.  
"The city is flying..." he repeated as he grabbed four arrows and readied them in his bow. He nodded and she kicked the door open, they left and he started shooting his arrows at the robots, and (Y/n) started stabbing them through their 'eyes.'

···············

Steve looked down at the woman Thor had thrown over to Steve after her car fell off the edge of a collapsing bridge.  
"I got you!" he hollered down to her. "Just look at me." he said calmly as he began to pull her up and onto the bridge.  
" ** _You can't save them all. You'll never_**..." Ultron began but Steve threw off one of the attacking robots off the edge of the bridge.  
"You'll never what? You didn't finish!" Steve yelled down off the bridge as Thor landed on the bridge, specifically on the top of the woman's car he was saving. "What, were you napping?" Steve asked Thor.  
" ** _Thor! You're bothering me_**." Ultron sneered as he watched Steve and Thor fight the robots on the bridge.

···············

As (Y/n) and Clint fight off the robots Wanda came out of the building and started to use her powers on the robots to destroy them.  
"I knew you had it in ya," (Y/n) smiled as she squeezed Wanda's shoulder.  
"Alright, we're all clear here." Clint said into his comm.  
" _We are not clear! We are very not clear_!" Steve replied, clearly in distress.  
"Alright, coming to you." (Y/n) replied, just then Pietro sped in and stood next to (Y/n) for a few seconds, playing with a few strands of her hair. She looked at him with a confused look before he picked up Wanda and sped away.  
"Keep up old man!" he shouted to Clint.  
Clint held up his arrow and aimed it in the direction Pietro sped off in.  
"Nobody would know. Nobody." he said lowering his bow. "'The last I saw him, when Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already.'" he said as they jogged over to where Steve was, (Y/n) chuckled and shook her head. Even in the depths of battle Clint still had his sense of humor.


	25. Walk it Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major Character Death!

  
Steve looked as Natasha joined them, and saw a robot coming toward her.   
"Romanoff!" He yelled as he threw his shield at her so she can use it to protect herself from the attacking robot.  
She caught the shield and smacked the robot and with it, killing it.  
"Thanks." 

···············

" _The anti-gravs are rigged to flip. Touch 'em, they'll go full reverse thrust. The city's not coming down slow_." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.  
"The spire's Vibranium. If I get Thor to hit it..." Tony muttered.  
" _It'll crack, but that's not enough, the impact would still be devastating._ " F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.  
"Maybe if we cap the other end, keep the atomic action doubling back." Tony thought out loud.  
' _That could vaporize the city, and everyone on it.'_ F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed, but Tony knew that.  
" _The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?"_ Steve asked over the comm.  
"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."  
" _We asked for a solution, not an escape plan._ " (Y/n) said as she joined Steve and Natasha.  
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice." Tony sighed.

···············

"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." Natasha said, breathing heavily.  
"Not 'til everyone's safe." Steve said, looking at her.  
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there?" Natasha asked looking at him.  
"There's no math there." (Y/n) said as Pietro stopped next to her.  
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve said sternly.  
"We didn't say we should leave." Natasha said looking at (Y/n). Steve turned to look at them.  
"There's worse ways to go." (Y/n) said, shrugging, smiling and squinting at the setting sun. "Where else am I gonna get a view like this?" she asked.  
" _Glad you like the view, Hart. It's about to get better._ " Fury radioed through their comms. Just then the Helicarrier was up and in front of them. " _Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do._ "  
"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve said looking at the Helicarrier. (Y/n) looked at Steve with wide eyes and chuckled lightly.

···············  
 **Inside the Helicarrier**

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury teased.  
"Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing." Maria informed.  
"Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in three, two... take 'em out." Specialist Klein said.

···············

The life boats disengaged from the Helicarrier and went towards the city.  
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Pietro asked as he watched the lifeboats. (Y/n) rested her hand on Steve's shoulder as they watched on in amazement.  
"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supposed to be." the two said in unison.  
"This is not so bad." Pietro said with a smile, causing (Y/n) to turn to him and laugh.  
"Let's load 'em up." Steve said to them with a small nod.

···············

"Sir, we have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank." Maria said as she looked at the screen in front of her.  
"Show 'em what we got." Fury said. Maria nodded.  
"You're up." she said into her comm.

···············

Rhodes shows up in his War Machine suit and begins to blast the robots.  
"Yes! Now this is gonna be a good story!" he cheered as Tony flew up next to him.  
"Yep. If you live to tell it." Tony said as he blasted one of the bots.  
"You think I can't hold my own?" Rhodes asked.  
"We get through this... I'll hold your own." Tony said.  
"You had to make it weird?" Rhodes asked as he visibly cringed behind the mask of the War Machine suit.

···············

"Alright, let's load 'em up! Alright, here we go. Here we go, let's move. Let's go, everyone!" Clint hollered as the team helped the people onto the Helicarrier's lifeboats.

···············

Specialist Klein looked at the screen in front of him. "Number six boat is topped and locked. Or, uh, or stocked, topped. It... it's, uh, full of people." He awkwardly stammered.  
"Incoming!" Maria yelled as one of the robots flew in and crashed inside the Helicarrier.  
"Oh, God!" Klein exclaimed as he ducked under his station. Maria shot at the robot, but it wasn't doing much, Fury stabbed it with a piece of metal, destroying it.

···············

" ** _You think you're saving anyone? I turn that key and drop this rock a little early and it's still billions dead. Even you can't stop that."_** Ultron said as he grabbed Thor by the throat.  
"I am Thor, son of Odin, and as long as there is life in my breast, I am... running out of things to say!" Thor strained to say, he then looked behind Ultron and smiled. "Are you ready?"  
Ultron turned and Vision used Thor's hammer to hit him. Ultron let go of thor and Vision then threw the hammer back to its owner.  
"It's terribly well balanced."  
Thor tossed the hammer up and caught it. "Well, if there's too much weight, you lose power on the swing, so..." he said mimicking a swing.

···············

"I got it! Create a heat seal. I can... I can supercharge the spire from below." Tony said as he shot the robots front the lifeboats.  
" _Running numbers._ " FRIDAY said, as Tony shot another robot. " _A heat seal could work with enough power_."  
"Thor, I got a plan!" Tony shouted to Thor through the comm.  
" _We're out of time. They're coming for the core._ " Thor said.  
"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier." Tony ordered.  
" _On it_."   
"Avengers, time to work for a living." Tony said as he flew toward the core. 

···············

"Avengers, assemble." (Y/n) said, looking at Clint as the two of them joined Steve on the way to the core.  
Steve smirked slightly. "Spoken like a true leader."

···············

"You good?" Pietro asked Wanda as the rest of the team met up and joined Thor and Vision.  
"Yeah." She nodded looking at (y/n), raising her eyebrows slightly in a silent way of asking if she was okay as well, the (h/c) haired avenger nodded.  
Tony looked around and noticed Bruce and Natasha were missing. "Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini."  
"Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly." She said running into the church.  
"What's the drill?" (Y/n) asked looking at Tony.  
He pointed to the Vibranium core. "This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."  
The team nodded, prepared to defend the core to save the city, unfortunately, Ultron showed up.   
"Is that the best you can do?" Thor shouted at him, his hammer in hand. This only caused Ultron to summon his army of robots to join him.  
(Y/n) sighed and shook her head.  
"You had to ask." Steve said, looking at all of the robots.  
Ultron smiled and opened his arms wide. " _ **This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?**_ "  
"Well, like the old man said." Tony said, glancing at Steve. "Together."   
Then the fight began, they were all laying waste to the shiny robot army, their silver bodies flying everywhere.   
" _ **You know, with the benefit of hindsight..."**_ Ultron began, only for Hulk to knock him far away causing the robots to retreat.  
"They'll try to leave the city." Thor exclaimed.  
"We can't let 'em, not even one. Rhodey!" Tony shouted into the comms.  
" _I'm on it._ " Rhodes replied.   
"We gotta move out." (Y/n) said pushing hair out of her face.  
Steve nodded. "She's right. Even I can tell the air is getting thin." He looked at Clint, Natasha, (Y/n) and Pietro. "You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."  
"What about the core?" Clint asked with furrowed eyebrows.  
"I'll protect it. It's my job." Wanda nodded, looking at Clint and (Y/n). Steve, Clint and Natasha left, leaving (Y/n) and Pietro with wanda. "Get the people on the boats."  
"I'm not going to leave you here." Pietro shook his head.   
"I can handle this," Wanda assured as she blasted an approaching robot. "Both of you can come back for me when everyone else is off, not before."  
Pietro looked at (Y/n) then back to his sister. "Hmm."  
"You understand?" She asked.  
"You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you." Pietro smirked.  
"Go." Wanda chuckled.  
"You got this, kid. I know you do." (Y/n) smiled, Wanda smiled back. Pietro picked up the Avenger and sped off to the lifeboats. 

···············

" _Boss, power levels are way below opt.._." FRIDAY informed.   
"Reroute everything. We get one shot at this." Tony said.

···············

Clint and Natasha are made their way to the lifeboats, riding in a car, Clint behind the wheel zooming through the streets dodging debris.   
"I know what I need to do. The dining room! If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?" Clint asked, he was basically trying to distract himself from the fact that he could potentially die today.  
"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway." Natasha smirked.  
"No one eats in a dining room," Clint chuckled as they reached the lifeboats. "We don't have a lot of time."  
Natasha nodded, the smirk still on her face. "So get your ass on a boat." She then turned and ran towards the city in pursuit of finding the Hulk.

···············

Clint climbed into one of the lifeboats, but noticed a woman calling out for her son.  
"Costel?" She asked, looking around as Clint walked over to her. "We were in the market," she said, looking at him. "Costel?!" She said as Clint ran off to find the boy.

···············

" _Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church._ " Tony called through the comms.  
Thor looked at Steve. "Is this the last of them?" he asked referring to the people getting into the lifeboats.  
"Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier." Steve nodded.  
" _You know, if this works, we maybe don't walk away._ " Tony said.  
"Maybe not." Thor said as he made his way to the church.

···············

The Hulk was about to calm down, Natasha was trying to get him back to being Bruce.  
Ultron flew above them in a jet and started shooting at them. " ** _I got no strings, so I have fun. I'm not tied up to anyone._** " He began to sing maniacally.

···············

(Y/n) ushered people into one of the lifeboats with Pietro before seeing Clint run off the one next to them. (Y/n) furrowed her eyebrows and looked towards Natasha and the Hulk as she saw Ultron shooting at them.  
"Clint!" (Y/n) shouted as she ran from the boat, following her friend into the line of fire, though he didn't realize that.  
Pietro watched her run off and turned towards the boat. "Stay here, you're safe now." he said before speeding towards Clint.  
Clint ran out of the store, having found the young boy and Ultron started shooting at them, Clint clutched the boy to his chest and turned his back to the jet, to shield the boy. (Y/n) ran as fast as she could but Pietro was faster, quickly moving them behind an overturned car.  
Time started to move in slow motion for (Y/n), it was as if she was seeing things in a faster than the speed of light kind of way, she quickly turned to look at Ultron in the jet as he was preparing to shoot once more, her frantic heartbeat pounding in her ears. Then she looked at Pietro who wasn't covered by the car.  
She ran as fast as she could, and pushed him towards Clint and the boy, intervening and taking the shots to save him. She looked down at her torso as the shooting seized, then she looked at Pietro and Clint who were looking at her with wide eyes.  
"You didn't... see that coming." (Y/n) smiled slightly, before she fell to her knees.  
"(Y/n)!" Clint yelled, instantly getting the attention of Steve who began to make his way over. Pietro crawled towards her and grabbed her shoulders.  
"Why?" he whispered.  
She smiled faintly and slowly reached her hand up and placed it on his cheek. "You and Wanda..." she breathed out. "You two... Have been through enough..." she muttered, before she fell in his lap, dead.  
Pietro began to cry as Steve reached them. Tears forming in his eyes, he cleared his throat and took the boy from Clint to give him back to his mother... He was torn up about this, but he needed to finish the mission.  
Clint stood up and staggered toward Pietro, who was clutching (Y/n)'s lifeless body to his chest. His heart sunk, he wanted to give up right there and fall down beside her... But he couldn't... He still had a job to do... And he'd do it for her.

···············

Wanda looks off into the distance, towards where she saw Pietro and (Y/n) run off to. She senses a death, not the death of her brother... Not the death of Clint... But the death of (Y/n). The one person who had accepted them into the team from the beginning, made her and Pietro feel welcomed. She falls to her knees and lets out a scream of despair, wiping out all the Ultron bots around her completely. 


	26. Death of a Friend

_**'...a longer life isn’t always a better one. In the end you just get tired. Tired of the struggle. Tired of losing everyone that matters to you.'** _  
_**-The Doctor** _  
_**(The Lazarus Experiment)** _

Tony looked down at the pale, lifeless face of his best friend. Sadness in his eyes, he looked towards Steve who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Bruce had disappeared, Maria was currently trying to find him upon the request of Natasha.  
Clint blamed it entirely on himself so he wasn't there either, he couldn't even bear to look at her, so he went home to his wife and kids to prepare for Laura having the baby. It's quite weird to say that considering that no one knew he had a family besides Natasha and (Y/n). Natasha was god knows where probably looking for Bruce, and Thor was kinda crying in the corner.  
Pietro and Wanda were standing off to the side, both with sad expressions on their faces. But Wanda knew that if it wasn't for (Y/n) her brother wouldn't be alive, and so she was a little happier than most people in the room, though she didn't dare show it. She was still upset, (Y/n) had convinced the team to give them a chance, she had also made Pietro and her feel safe before the fight with Ultron, so when (Y/n) died... She felt that... She felt as if a family member had been ripped away from her... But if it wasn't for her, Pietro would be gone...  
"I'm sorry, Tony," Steve said looking at him. Tony rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.  
"Just shut up, Rogers." Tony hissed. Thor walked over to his friend and grabbed her hand, it was as cold as ice.  
"Come on, (Y/n)..." he said quietly. "Just heal yourself... You've done it before... I've lost Loki, and mother, I can't lose my best friend too..." he whispered leaning down and resting his forehead against hers, his tears landing on her face. "Please....." he whimpered.  
Pietro shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. This was his fault, if he had just moved out of the way after he moved Clint and the boy, (Y/n) wouldn't have felt the need to save him...  
Thor rose and took a deep breath, then walked out of the room without a second glance. Tony looked down at the ground.  
This was probably one of the worst things he has ever felt. He has lost a lot of people in his life, and losing (Y/n) has broke him. Shattered him to a million pieces, that can never be fixed.  
"Guys, she's not coming back. She's gone." Natasha said leaning against the door frame. Steve, Wanda and Tony looked at her, but Pietro kept his eyes on the floor.  
"Sorry for just being, ya know, human beings Nat. We are allowed to grieve right?" Tony asked. "It's a little strange for you not to be grieving. I thought you and (Y/n) were close..."  
"Come here, I wanna lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug, maybe even slow dance." she said sarcastically, but it hurt her because it was a line (y/n) had used often. "We shouldn't be wallowing in sadness, or guilt," she said looking at the silver haired Maximoff. "It's not what (Y/n) would want. We're Avengers, we avenge people. Sure, Ultron's gone, but this can be a new chapter for us. (Y/n)'s death can now light that fire underneath our asses so we make sure that no one in our team, our family, dies again." She said with great validity in her voice. She gave one last glance to the inhabitants of the room before she walked out to call Clint to make sure he was handling everything okay.  
Tony looked down at (Y/n), his jaw clenched.  
"Stark, it's not your fault." Steve said, shaking his head. Tony furrowed his eyebrows as he pushed back tears that were filling his eyes.  
"Of course it is!" he said looking at Steve. "I'm the one who dragged her into this whole thing in the first place! I'm the one who convinced fury to get her to come back, convinced her that we so desperately needed her! If only I- if only I was there to protect her." a tear fell from his eye.  
Thor looked at Tony from the doorway, a pained expression on his face. Steve clenched his jaw at Tony's sudden outburst of emotion.  
"If I was a true friend I would have realized that yeah, maybe we can save a country but is it really worth losing the life of my best friend?!" Tony turned to Pietro, his eyes full of anger. "You!" he said pointing at the silver haired Maximoff. "This is your fault too! You just had to put yourself in danger, didn't you?!"  
"(Y/n) would always give her life to save anyone," Steve said trying to calm Tony down.  
" _Exactly_! And he was too stupid to watch his own ass!" Tony yelled.  
Pietro looked at him with his jaw clenched, tears in his eyes. "How do you think I feel?!" Pietro yelled. "This was my fault, I will admit it! And I will have to live with it every fucking day for the rest if my life!" he yelled, tears pricking his eyes.  
Steve swallowed the forming lump in his throat. Tony looked at him, a mix of anger and sadness coursing through his body.  
"If I could go back in time I would have me take all of those bullets! It should be me lying dead on that table, not her!" he said pointing at the lifeless corpse of the fallen Avenger. "Maybe- maybe I could've done something..."  
"It's okay," Wanda said wrapping her arms around him.  
"No, it's not okay." he said, tears falling from his soft, blue eyes.  
"No. But it is what it is." she consoled.  
"I promised Loki I would take care of her," Thor said wiping his eyes. "It was practically his dying wish," he chuckled sadly. "I always tried to protect you," he said looking down at her pale face. He brushed a strand of hair back so he could see more of her features. "I always tried to keep you safe. Loki really didn't have to tell me; I just always felt it was my responsibility, ya know?" he chuckled sadly. "It's like I had one job. I had one job and I screwed it up. I blew it, and for that I am sorry." he said grabbing her lifeless, cold, hand. "I am sorry, (Y/n). I guess that's what I do, I let down the people I love. I let The All Father down, I let mother and Loki down, and now," he wiped away a tear from his eye. "Now, I guess I am supposed to let you down too, (Y/n). How can I? How am I supposed to live with that? I was supposed to protect you, and I couldn't even do that!" he crouched down next to the table, still holding her hand, his head bowed. "How am I supposed to live with the fact that I couldn't protect my best friend? What am I supposed to do?" he sobbed quietly, his body shaking with every sob.  
Steve rested his hand on Thor's shoulder. "She's in a better place now guys," Steve said looking at (Y/n). "Everything ends, it is inevitable. Yes, she was taken too early, but y'know what? Everything has to end sometimes, otherwise things would never get started. All we can do is remember what she was like and move on. We carry this burden and shed a tear every once in a while."  
"This wasn't a part of the job description." Tony said, rolling his eyes. Steve looked at him sternly.  
"Yes, this was a part of the job description. See, as heroes we take the unspoken vow of putting our lives on the line for the sake of cities, countries, and nations. (Y/n) knew what she was signing up for. We know what we signed up for. And if you don't agree with it you can leave and never come back because an Avenger avenges, and you can bet your damn ass that we will avenge (Y/n). Ultron was just the beginning, there is always going to be another fight, and there will always be a reason to win. (Y/n) can be our reason now."  
Tony looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. "How many more people do we have to lose until the fighting ends? I'm tired of losing people." and with that he walked out of the room to go drink himself into a goodnights sleep - with limited crying. He still felt it was his fault.  
"I just don't understand how we try and try but we still lose people! How are we supposed to live with that?!" Pietro yelled. Steve looked at him.  
"We live with it because it's our job, we can't save everyone, even if we tried. You win some you lose some, all that matters is that most of them are safe! I know that it is a horrible thing to say, but you just can't save everyone. It's impossible."   
Wanda grabbed Pietro's hand and dragged him out of the room. Pietro didn't want to leave, but he couldn't look at her anymore, he felt that it was all his fault.  
Thor stood up and looked down at (Y/n). He didn't know what the future held for him, but he knew that without her in it it would be dim. She was the light of his life, she was teaching him so many things about Midgard and their culture, and in turn he was teaching her about the nine realms and telling her tales of he and Loki when they were little.  
Her favorite story being when Thor was eight and Loki transformed himself into a snake, she would laugh everytime Thor told her that he only picked up the snake because he loves them, but she would laugh even harder when Thor recalled that Loki then turned back into himself and stabbed him.  
Thor smiled slightly at the memory of her laugh, how angelic it was, and how infectious. Once she was laughing everyone started laughing, they didn't even know why they were laughing.  
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. He stood up straight and looked at Steve. He didn't know when he would be back to earth, he didn't know how long it would take for The Avengers to have another mission or when all of them will even be ready for one.  
Thor walked out of the room, leaving Steve alone. Steve looked down at (Y/n), taking all of her features into account. This woman has made him feel things that he hadn't felt since Peggy.  
"The most selfish thought that I've ever had was 'I hope I die before you'. But," he chuckled sadly, "look how that turned out." He ran his hand down his face. "I never got the chance to tell you before you died, (Y/n)..." he let out a shaky breath, his macho bravado leaving his body, he was now a sensitive, emotional, boy. "I didn't want to let you die without knowing that you were loved. Loved by so many and so much. And by no one more than me, but that didn't happen, so I'm telling you now."  
He let out a shaky breath as a single tear fell from his eye. "I never let you know how I felt, and that's probably the worst thing I've ever done. I never had the courage to tell you - I mean who am I compared to the god of mischief?" he chuckled sadly, another tear falling. "But, I loved you, a part of me still does, and forever will. I will miss you everyday, we all will." He wiped away his tears, even though it wasn't really helping considering he was crying pretty bad, and walked out of the room.  
The lights to the room shut off. The space was filled with silence, it was the type of silence that so desperately needs to be broken, but no one has the courage to so you're just waiting for someone to grow a pair and say something. Say anything.  
**_Listen to me, (Y/n) Hart._ **A female voice called. It was a very proper voice, but also laced with something - something that is almost like jealousy but also full of spite. **_What you're feeling right now, isn't death. It's life. You, my child, cannot die - as I'm sure you already know. I simply cannot allow it, not yet... You're still needed. So open your eyes, (Y/n). See what I see. Feel what I feel._ **The voice began to laugh maniacally.  
(Y/n)'s eyes shot open and she gasped for air.

**The Avenger has returned.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What??? But... I mean you had to have seen this coming right?! Anywho, we all probably know who the voice was 😂 and the next part is going to deal with Civil War, then after that I might have to take a break because I have to write Ragnarok (I know that Ragnarok happens around the same time as Civil War but I have ideas for both so yeah..) 💛


	27. Jesus Fucking Christ

**_It's not very often life gives you second chances. It's not very often that life gives you more than one life. But if you're like (Y/n) Hart you just can't die. (Y/n)'s body can heal itself, yes, but it can also regenerate to the extent that if she does die, by any means, she will come back._ **   
**_That voice that was heard in the last chapter, that was the main source of that power - otherwise known as the woman who (Y/n) doesn't know but also the woman who wants her alive for some reason, and (Y/n) doesn't have any idea who she is or the reason she wanted her to be kept alive._ **

···············

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ," (Y/n) groaned, sitting up. She looked around and saw that she was in the Avengers facility, alone in a room. She got off the table and looked over her body, there were no scars, nothing. You couldn't even tell that she had just died a few hours ago by being a human shield for a guy that tried to kill her and her friends but actually turned out to be a huge Sokovian sweetheart.  
She walked out of the room and slowly walked down the hallway  
"What the fuck was that voice?" she whispered, resting her hand against her head. She has never heard the voice before, but the two previous times that she's come back there were flames of green - but she never heard a voice. She slowly walked down the halls and to the conference room, where voices were heard.  
" _I just can't believe she's gone_." a voice said, she knew that voice all too well, it was Tony's.  
" _Neither can I..._ " another said, it was Thor, he sounded like he had been crying. (Y/n) rested her hand on her chest, her heart breaking. It joyed her to know that they all cared so much, but it killed her to have them feel this bad.  
She went to open the door but a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up at the person and saw that it was Wanda, she had a pained look on her face.  
"You're alive?" she asked.  
"Y-yeah." (Y/n) said nervously. Wanda looked at her and shook her head.  
"You shouldn't go in there. You need to leave." she said. (Y/n) raised her eyebrows.  
"What do you mean? I'm alive! They need to know!"  
"No they don't. It's like Natasha said, your death will only light a fire under us, and we can't have that if you're alive, now can we?"   
(Y/n) didn't know how to feel about this side of Wanda. She thought that everyone would be excited about her reanimating, but apparently not.

"Imagine you walking in there, and they're all happy, but the moment we go back into a mission, they're going to be worried about you, and it might even get one of them killed." she said. (Y/n) looked at the floor, and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "How would that make you feel?"  
"I-I don't know..." (Y/n) muttered.  
"You should leave," Wanda suggested. (Y/n) raised her eyebrows.  
"I can't. I won't!" she defended. "I love these people with all my might and I don't want to give them up!"  
Wanda looked at her and crossed her arms. "Just because you love someone, doesn't mean you should stick around and screw up their life."  
(Y/n) looked at Wanda, her eyes wet with tears. She rubbed her hand over her face and scoffed. She just saved her brothers life and now Wanda was telling her to go? C'mon, be a bit grateful girl.  
_What was she supposed to do? She was just supposed to leave the group that had become her family, or should she stick around and potentially get one of them hurt? Maybe leaving was for the best._  
"Where am I supposed to go?" she asked, tears falling from her eyes.  
Wanda shrugged. "Get out of the country. Go to somewhere secluded, I don't know. But just stay away."  
(Y/n) nodded and bit her lip. She was going to throw away everything, just like that, so her family didn't have to suffer the heartache of losing her again, or losing someone else because of her. Some might call it ridiculous, but Wanda was a little right, they would just be worried about her in a battle and she didn't want it to cost one of their lives.  
"Will you ever tell them? You know, the truth of me being alive and all?" she asked wiping away heat tears.  
"Truth is a matter of circumstance," Wanda said looking at the door. "It will come out eventually, let's just hope that it's when we really need you."  
(Y/n) nodded and sucked in a breath. "Well, goodbye, I guess..." she said walking away from the door, away from the people that she loved so much.  
She walked down the hallway, tears cascading down her face. She didn't look back, she couldn't bear to. She exited the Avengers Facility and walked to the garage. She walked over to one of the S.H.I.E.L.D SUV's and opened the door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and the keys were in the ignition as well.  
She rolled her eyes. S.H.I.E.L.D agents are so fucking dumb. She thought.  
She would've taken one of Tony's cars, but he would be very upset by it, and then he would start questioning who took it. She started the car and pulled out of the garage. She drove down the driveway and onto the street. She glanced back at the facility in the rearview mirror. She drove away, her tears subsiding.  
She was just a story now, a story to be told by her friends. And now all she had was the stories of them. She smiled sadly, thinking back to all of the fun times. Maybe this was for the best, now she didn't have to worry about saving the world constantly, and now they didn't have to worry about her. Everything has to come to an end eventually, or nothing would ever get started. This could be great for all of them.  
She's lost her friends, her family, and her heart's been broken by the god of mischief and lies; yet she was smiling through all the pain.  
It's her time to go, her time to leave and start over, and yeah, it hurts a bit, but you know what? All she has to do is remember the best, and that's what she had. She had the best, and she threw it away.


End file.
